Western concern on nuclear program "big lie": Iran
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-10 18:36
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western nations on Wednesday of
hypocrisy and said their expressions of concern over nuclear programmes were a
"big lie."
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
(R) greets visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) at the
Merdeka Palace in Jakarta May 10, 2006.
[Reuters] |
"I'll tell you, they are not concerned with nuclear programmes ... They are
themselves engaged in nuclear activities and they are expanding day by day. They
test new brands of weapons of mass destruction every day," he told a news
conference during a visit to fellow Muslim nation Indonesia.
"Big powers pretend (they) are concerned, but it's a big lie," he said.
Ahmadinejad said Iranian people resented "incorrect decisions" taken by the
international community.
"The Iranian people are sufficiently capable to defend (their) own rights,"
he added.
Iran is under pressure to rein in a nuclear programme it says is for peaceful
purposes but some countries fear is really aimed at developing weapons.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has offered to help
mediate on the issue, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his spokesman said
after Yudhoyono met Ahmadinejad.
"We can cooperate well in reducing the tension and move toward continuing
talks and negotiations," Yudhoyono told reporters.
Spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said "Iran was very receptive" to Indonesia's
offer to help mediate.
"We hope it will happen. We need to breathe new life into negotiations," he
said.
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