Top Judge: Iran Not to Retreat from Nuclear Rights
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran's Judiciary chief reiterated on Wednesday that access to the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is an essential need and the country’s inalienable right, adding that Tehran will not retreat from the right.
Addressing a Wednesday meeting of high-ranking judiciary officials in Tehran, Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani reaffirmed that the Iranian nation will not retreat one iota from its nuclear rights.
He also warned of attempts, either deliberate or unintentional, that cast doubt on the necessity for the nuclear technology in Iran, a notion he said is supported by enemies.
“If gaining the knowledge of nuclear energy is not pretty important and gives nothing to the Iranian nation, why have the Westerners stood against our acquisition of such knowledge and employed different kinds of sanctions and plots (to stop nuclear program)?” he asked.
Ayatollah Larijani further assured the country’s nuclear negotiators of continued support provided by the nation and the officials, calling on them to press ahead with the talks vigorously and not to retreat from the country’s rights.
His remarks came a week after negotiators from Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) wrapped the latest round of talks on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program in Switzerland’s Geneva.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) have decided to extend for more 7 months a self-imposed deadline for signing a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
The negotiations aim to hammer out a final agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.