Iran’s Rohani vows to defend Iran’s nuclear rights with least cost

Iranian presidential candidate Hassan Rohani says if he becomes president, he will safeguard the country’s nuclear rights with minimum costs.

In a Q & A session on TV on Wednesday, the reformist candidate said his administration will pay great attention to Iran’s nuclear energy program.

“Access to a peaceful nuclear program is our inalienable right, just like many other rights… the right to development and growth, and security and welfare,” Rohani stated.

The United States and the European Union have imposed illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran over the false claim that Iran’s nuclear energy program includes a military component.

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that numerous inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have invariably failed to find any diversion toward military purposes.

Rohani, who presides the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency, stressed that Iran has no intention of deviating from the civilian nature of its nuclear activities.

He also pledged to deal with Iran’s high unemployment rate if elected president.

Rohani is facing five rivals — former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, and former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi — in Iran’s 11th presidential election.

Two presidential candidates, former Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and former First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref withdrew their candidacy bids on Monday.

The president of Iran is elected for a four-year term in a national election. Nearly 50.5 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential poll, scheduled for June 14.