ARAK, Iran (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday no one could deprive Iran of its right to nuclear technology, voicing fresh defiance days ahead of a U.N. deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment work.
“No one can deprive a nation of its rights based on its capabilities,” he said in a speech to inaugurate a new phase of Iran’s heavy-water reactor project southwest of Tehran.
“Iran is not a threat to anybody, not even to the Zionist regime,” he said, using Iran’s term for its arch-enemy Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise.