Supreme Leader says Iran doesn’t want nuclear weaponsFebruary 16, 2013 - 14:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran does not want nuclear weapons but if it did, no world power could prevent it from obtaining one, local media quoted the country's Supreme Leader as saying on Saturday, Feb 16. The United States and some of its Western allies suspect Iran may be trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability under the guise of a civilian atomic energy program, a charge Iran rejects. Iranian officials have said in the past that a religious decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banning nuclear weapons is binding on the Islamic Republic, and Khamenei has repeatedly said Iran is not seeking an atomic bomb. "We believe nuclear arms must be eliminated and we don't want to build nuclear arms," Khamenei said on Saturday morning, in comments published by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), according to Reuters. "But if we did not believe this and decided to have nuclear arms, no power could stand in our way," he added. The United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are due to meet Iran for talks in Kazakhstan on February 26 to tackle a decade-old row that has already produced four rounds of UN sanctions against Iran. Separate talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog agency this week failed to produce a deal on reviving an investigation into Iranian research that could be used to produce nuclear weapons. Israel, widely assumed to be the region's only nuclear-armed power, has said is ready to take military action to stop Iran developing a bomb, raising fears the standoff could escalate into a war. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |