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Rival Iranian institute slams president on nuke program
Research institute owned by ex-president Rafsanjani accuses Ahmadinejad of exaggerating nuclear gains in order to win votes in upcoming election
Dudi Cohen
A prominent Iranian research institute has accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of distorting facts regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in order to win votes in an upcoming nationwide election.
The institute is owned by a committee headed by Ahmadinejad's arch-foe, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, whom he defeated in the 2005 elections.
Now the research institute is claiming that Ahmadinejad has played down his predecessor's role in the development of the country's nuclear program, which was launched during Rafsanjani's term in the 1980s.
It also claims the current president exaggerated his defiance of a deal struck between Iran and Europe in 2003, in which former President Mohammad Khatami agreed to suspend the country's uranium enrichment.
The institute says the deal prevented UN sanctions on Iran, and that Ahmadinejad's radical policies later brought three rounds of sanctions on the country.
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