S. Leader: UN Should Not Heed Powers' Positions On Nuke Disarmament

Tehran, Aug 30, IRNA – UN should not care about world powers' positions in case of fulfilling the nuclear disarmament, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said here on Wednesday. He made the remarks in his meeting with the visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "Iran wants a Middle East free from nuclear weapons and expects that the UN would do its best in removal of the Zionist regime's nuclear weapons which are a big danger for the regional countries. "UN Security Council needs to be reformed in order to ensure a more secure and just world. "Civil war in Syria has resulted the death of innocent people and the Islamic Republic of Iran is keen in helping to resolve this crisis; naturally, the halt of sending weapons to the Syrian irresponsible rebels is a precondition to the resolution of the crisis; proxy war of some states against the Syrian government caused the failure of Kofi Annan's Peace Plan and the situation in Syria will not improve until they (the western and Arab countries) would stop their anti-Syrian plots. 'The Americans themselves know well that Iran doesn’t have an intention to build nuclear weapons; IAEA should do its task toward member-states and instead of non-cooperation, should help them technically. 'Iran expected that the UN would react to the war threats and sabotage operations of the US against Iran's nuclear program. 'Based on our religious beliefs, the production and usage of nuclear weapons is forbidden and we firmly believe in that; in case of disarmament, the UN should not consider the powers' positions.' The UN secretary general for his part asked Iran to use its influence to resolve the Syrian crisis, noting that all sides should stop forwarding weapon to Syria. Ban also expressed concern about the Iranian nuclear program and called for more cooperation of Tehran with the IAEA and G5+1. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the NPT entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path. Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants./end