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September 5, 2008 2:54:42 AM CDT

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Ayatollah: Iran Will Not Build Nukes

Posted Jun 3, 08 7:32 AM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Iran isn’t interested in nuclear weapons, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proclaimed in a speech today, but will pursue its nuclear energy program despite international pressure. “No wise nation would be interested in making a nuclear weapon today,” said Iran’s supreme leader. “They are against rational thought.” Just days ago the UN’s atomic watchdog group expressed “serious concern” about Iran’s nuclear programs including work in warheads, and urged “full disclosure.”

“Iran is after the peaceful use of nuclear energy and we will strongly pursue and reach it despite the envy of our enemies,” Khamenei said. Those enemies presumably include the Bush administration, for which Khamenei had harsh words. “Sometimes they threaten, sometimes they order assassinations... and sometimes they ask for help—it's like mad people staggering to and fro,” he said.

Sources BBC, Associated Press

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Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech in a ceremony marking death anniversary of Iranian late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, June 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd at the conclusion of his speech, June 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Khamenei said his country will continue with its controversial nuclear program, but rejected nuclear weapons.   (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Iran  • nuclear weapons  • nuclear power  • nuclear  • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei


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