Threats make Iran more determined: Ahmadinejad

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that any threats from the West against Iran will meet with more determination and reiterated that his government was not seeking an "inhuman" atomic bomb.

In an address marking National Nuclear Day, Ahmadinejad said Iran was now a "nuclear nation" and that it was Western pressure which had forced it to enrich uranium to the 20 percent level that has sparked growing international concern.

"We have said several times that we are honest. We are sure that we are on the right path. But they should know that those who sit in glass palaces are wrong to try to deflect Iran's will," the hardliner said.

Ahmadinejad's comments came a day after China joined five other major powers in agreeing to further talks on a new round of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

"These kinds of actions will make Iranians more determined," the president said.

"For example, four months ago we had no intention of making 20 percent (enriched uranium) fuel. But when they talked of threats, we went ahead."

Ahmadinejad gave instructions on February 7 for Iran to begin enriching uranium to the 20 percent level required for a Tehran medical research reactor after long-running talks on a deal for the major powers to supply the fuel failed to bear fruit.

Western governments slammed the move as a significant step towards the 93 percent level required for making an atomic bomb but Iran again strongly denied any military ambition for its nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad renewed the denial on Friday but again said Iran was now a nuclear nation. "We are against nuclear weapons... we consider nuclear weapons to be inhuman," he said.

"They know the path of the Iranian nation is a path of no return. Our experts have reached a point where no power can create hurdles in the way of Iran getting nuclear technology.

"Today, Iran is a nuclear nation. Whether the ill-wishers accept it or not, it is a nuclear nation and with God's help it will remain one," he said to chants of Allahu Akbar (God is greater) from the crowd.

Before his speech, Ahmadinejad unveiled a model of a new generation of uranium-enriching centrifuge that atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said was capable of enriching uranium six times faster than Iran's existing centrifuges.