Iran insists on right to nuclear fuel cycle as UK criticises
Pakistan Times Monitoring Desk

UNITED NATIONS: Iran’s new president insisted on Saturday that his country must retain the right to pursue nuclear fuel enrichment and called for a special UN committee to control the spread of atomic weapons.

In an interview with CNN, excerpts of which were aired before he was to address the United Nations General Assembly, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran “has the means to defend and obtain its rights” and charged that the United States had “bad intentions” toward his country.

Asked whether Tehran might trigger a rise in world oil prices in retaliation if Western nations referred suspicions about Iran’s nuclear program to the UN Security Council, he said: “Any intelligent, healthy smart human being should use every resource in order to maintain his or her freedom and independence.

Meanwhile, back in Tehran Iran on Sunday warned the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) against sending its atomic case to the U.N. Security Council, hinting such a move could prompt Tehran to start uranium enrichment.

"Our advice to the agency is to review Iran's case tomorrow logically and realistically to avoid making the case more complicated," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.

"We haven't started uranium enrichment yet but everything depends on the result of tomorrow's meeting," he said.

Straw criticizes Iran nuke stance

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has described as "unhelpful" the Iranian president's assertion that Iran has a right to produce nuclear energy.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the UN his country had an "inalienable right" to produce nuclear energy - but said Islam precluded Iran having atomic weapons.

Mr Straw said the speech was "disappointing" given recent talks with Iran over its nuclear stance.

The Foreign Office said nothing in Mr Ahmadinejad's speech suggested Iran wanted to abide by an agreement it had previously made. But it said it was a difficult issue and "the only way to resolve it is diplomatically."●