TEHRAN, Feb 11 — Iran will pursue its ‘peaceful’ nuclear technology and resist any threat against its interests in nuclear talks with the six world powers, said President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday.
“I announce this clearly that threats against Iranian nation is worthless and childish, since our nation resisted different kinds of enemy’s threats over the past 35 years and emerged victorious,” Xinhua quoted Rouhani as saying on the occasion marking the anniversary of 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The president urged the West to change its rhetoric in dealing with Iran, arguing the threat will lead to solidarity among Iranians and unity against West.
He denounced sanction pressures against his country “as oppressive, illegal and wrong”, saying that the West can no longer continue these sanctions against Iran.
Iran and six world powers signed a deal in November 2013 according to which Iran agreed to dilute its 20-percent enriched uranium stockpile in return for a limited ease of sanctions.
Rouhani criticized occasional military threats by the US, saying the military threats against Iran were mere “illusions” and “nobody in the world can keep military option against Iran on the table”.
Iran was determined to continue its advancements in acquiring “peaceful” nuclear technology, he said.
The president called nuclear negotiations “a historical test” for the US and Europe, and asked the world powers to consider Iran’s rights in the upcoming talks.
If the P5+1 group — the US, Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany — recognize Iran’s rights, heed shared interests, interact and negotiate on the basis of mutual respect, it would receive “positive response from Iran,” Rouhani said.
