Speaker Calls on West to Recognize Iran’s Right to Enrich Uranium
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani once again called on the West to accept Iran’s right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes, as allowed under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to which Iran is a signatory.
Larijani raised the issue in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
He said Iran is serious about resolving the dispute over its nuclear program, and is keen to resolve the issue in a short period of time.
“From Iran's side, I can say that we are ready,” Larijani told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“If the Americans and other countries say that Iran should not develop a nuclear bomb or should not move towards that,” he told Amanpour, “then we can clearly show and prove that. We have no such intention. So it can be resolved in a very short period of time.”
Nonetheless, Larijani said, the West must accept Iran’s right to enrich nuclear fuel for civilian purposes.
“If they want to bargain with us or if they have ulterior motives,” he said, “or maybe they want to somehow convince Iran to abandon its nuclear program, then it is going to take a long time.”
The United States and the European Union have imposed illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran under the pretext that Iran's nuclear energy program may include a military component.
Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that numerous inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have invariably failed to find any diversion towards military purposes.