Rafsanjani blames West for Iran N-energy excuses

Rafsanjani blames West for Iran N-energy excuses

Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has criticized Western countries for resorting to excuses over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

On Sunday, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said, “If the West stops resorting to excuses, all issues [around Iran’s nuclear energy program] will be settled in a session.”

He said the Islamic Republic wants to use peaceful nuclear energy and advised the West “not to speak with the language of intimidation” with the Iranian nation.

Various US officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama, have recently threatened Iran with military action.

On February 4, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned against any military attack against the country, saying the Islamic Republic will give a crushing response to any such act of aggression.

“The Iranian nation has always proved through history that it is fully ready to defend the principles of the sacred Islamic establishment and will severely punish aggressors,” the Iranian defense minister noted.

Iran and the six major world powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany – signed a nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old standoff over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. The two sides started to implement the agreement on January 20 and aim to continue negotiations for a final comprehensive deal.