Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has said his country will not back down from its logical stance on its nuclear program and will enrich uranium to 70 percent if needed.
He made the announcement while addressing members of Iran’s expert council on Monday evening. The Supreme Leader said, “We are committed to achieving the nuclear capabilities required by the country and therefore our uranium enrichment will not be limited to 20 but will be enriched as much as needed.” For example, in nuclear propulsion (technology) or any other work, our uranium enrichment rate could increase up to 70 percent.
Iran has so far enriched uranium to a maximum of 20 levels, which was set at three-and-a-half percent in the 2015 nuclear deal. But after the US pulled out of the deal, Iran has recently resumed enrichment to 20 levels. Nuclear weapons require 90 percent or more of uranium enrichment. Tehran has said it will not build a nuclear weapon following the noble direction of Islam.
In Monday’s speech, Khamenei reiterated Iran’s policy stance. He said, “Islam has restrictions on the manufacture of weapons, including nuclear and chemical weapons, with which civilians can be massacred, and we will abide by those restrictions to the letter.”
Recalling the US atomic bombings that killed 220,000 people in two Japanese cities during World War II, Iran’s supreme leader said: “The genocide of innocent people stems from the brutal mentality of the West. But Iran does not believe in this mentality.
“We must remember that the international Zionist clique has repeatedly said, ‘We will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.’ They should know that if Iran had decided to build a nuclear weapon, the Zionists would not have been able to resist, let alone the powers that be.
“In fact, nuclear weapons are just an excuse,” said Iran’s supreme leader. They don’t want us to have any standard weapons. Because they are not willing to give Iran the right to defend itself.
Source: Parstuday
#stop #wanted #Khamenei #nuclear #weapons