Iran defiant ahead of nuclear report
(VIDEO) Ahmadinejad says just hours before UN Watchdog expected to report Tehran failed to meet deadline to halt nuke works ‘Arrogant powers want to stop our nation's progress; I am telling them that they are wrong’
VIDEO - Iran vowed defiantly on Thursday not to bow to Western pressure, hours before a UN Watchdog was expected to report Tehran had failed to meet a deadline to halt work which the West fears could help it build a nuclear bomb.
The West "needs to know that the Iranian nation won't fold under pressure," said the Iranian president in a speech he gave Thursday morning before a large audience in the city of Aromiya, which was broadcast on Iranian television. "Our nation wants dialogue based on justice, and wants stability and peace in the world. Throughout history, Iran has protected the nations of the world. Iran doesn't present a threat to anyone, but has the right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The Iranian nation won't forego this right."
In a message sent to the six heads of state that initiated the Security Council resolution, the Iranian president said, "They want to solve their problems through threats and bombs, but this time has already passed. Our nation wants dialogue based on justice. The time of power and the hegemony has already passed," said Ahmadinejad.
He even attacked external attempts to divide Iran, saying, "The Iranian nation is one body and will never accept any attempt to divide it." In conclusion, Ahmadinejad boasted about the nuclear technology his country had already achieved, and added that Iran must work diligently to develop infrastructure within the country.
Iran has repeatedly said uranium enrichment, which the United Nations has demanded it stop, is its right and will not be abandoned. Western countries fear Iran's nuclear program is aimed at secretly building nuclear weapons.
'They should know Iranian nation will not yield to pressure.' Ahmadinejad (Photo: AP)
"Arrogant powers want to stop our nation's progress ... I am telling them that they are wrong," he said.
Washington says world powers are poised to begin discussing punitive measures next week against Iran if, as expected, the International Atomic Energy Agency finds Tehran ignored a UN Security Council demand to stop enriching uranium by Aug. 31.
As time was running out, Iran vowed never to drop the project and launched one of its key elements, a heavy-water plant. Tehran is also pressing ahead with enriching uranium in small amounts at its pilot centrifuge site, diplomats said.
Iran withholding answers to IAEA questions
But Iran's Aug. 22 reply to the powers' offer of incentives not to enrich, saying it could negotiate the scope of its plans, has spurred some US allies in Europe to ask for exploratory talks with Tehran, two Western diplomats said.
"This is to gain more time and postpone the expected sanctions," one said, reflecting underlying European Union preference to find a compromise with Iran rather than isolate one of Europe's biggest oil suppliers.
In a possible nod to EU concerns, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that even if sanctions discussions began, Iran could still opt to halt enrichment work and spur broader negotiations to implement the trade sweeteners package.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's spokeswoman said he might speak by telephone with Iranian chief negotiator Ali Larijani before the deadline passed, and they could meet afterward, to try to clarify Tehran's response.
The Security Council asked Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the nuclear watchdog IAEA, to spell out on Aug. 31 if Iran had complied with the deadline set in a July 31 resolution.
Washington, Iran's arch-foe, felt the 30-day grace period given to Iran was a fair chance for it to change its mind and if it did not, veto-holding Russia and China could be won over to backing Council sanctions once the deadline expired.
ElBaradei's report may state that Iran has stonewalled the myriad inquiries to a standstill, one senior diplomat said.
Iran is withholding answers to IAEA questions as bargaining chips for crunch talks with the big powers, diplomats say.
Analysts believe Iran remains 3-10 years away from producing highly-enriched uranium needed for a bomb, assuming it wants to.
Reuters contributed to the report
