Larijani: Iran not building empire in ME

Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says the Islamic Republic has influence in the Middle East region but does not use it to build an empire.

“If the Zionist regime (Israel) bullies Palestine we will stand against it and if it decides to attack Lebanon Hezbollah will confront it,” IRNA quoted Larijani as saying on Friday.

Larijani stressed that Iran is a country with peaceful nuclear know-how and added, “When the US questions why Iran has nuclear and missile technology it is because [it is unhappy that] we have the ability to obtain such technologies.”

“And had we been producing fruit juice, mineral water and tomato paste, it (the US) would never have raised an objection [to our production],” added the Majlis speaker.

“They claim that Iran has nuclear weapons, but they never say [a word about] the Zionist regime (Israel), which is their friend, [and] possesses nukes.”

The US and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking a military nuclear program.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology.