Tehran: Holding that Iran was not hankering after nuclear weapons, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday condemned the efforts of a few world powers - the very ones who had used such weapons - to monopolise civilian nuclear technology.
Inaugurating the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran, the Ayatollah also launched a blistering attack on the US for misusing the UN to bully the world, even as he called for reforming the movement itself to make it more relevant to the current global economic and strategic scenario.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns use of nuclear and chemical weapons and the like as an unforgiveable sin, and we have raised the slogan of a Middle East Free from Nuclear Weapons and we are committed to it," Khamenei maintained.
This did not mean Iran would ignore the right to the use of peaceful nuclear energy, he said.
"According to the international rules, use of the civilian nuclear technology is the right of all the world countries. Everyone should be entitled to make use of this safe energy for various vital purposes for their country and nation and should not depend on others for putting this right into effect," the Ayatollah contended.
In this context, he blasted "a few Western countries which possess nuclear weapons" for seeking to monopolise "the ability (of others) to produce nuclear fuel".
"A stealthy move has started to bring production and sales of nuclear fuel to centres under international titles, but actually under the claws of a few Western countries to keep it there forever," the Ayatollah said.
"The bitter sarcasm of our time is that the US administration, which has the most and most lethal nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and is the only one which has committed utilizing them, wants today to raise and bear the flag of opposition to nuclear proliferation," he warned.
But that was not all the Ayatollah had to fling at the US, as he accused it of twisting the UN to its own ends.
"The UN Security Council has an illogical, unjust and completely undemocratic structure and mechanism. This is a flagrant form of dictatorship, which is antiquated and obsolete and whose expiry date has passed. It is through abusing this improper mechanism that America and its accomplices have managed to disguise their bullying as noble concepts and impose it on the world," Khamenei said.
The US and its allies, he said, protect the interests of the West in the name of "human rights"; they interfere militarily in other countries in the name of "democracy"; they target defenceless people in villages and cities with their bombs and weapons in the name of "combating terrorism".
"From their perspective, humanity is divided into first, second and third-class citizens. Human life is considered cheap in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and expensive in America and Western Europe. The security of America and Europe is considered important, while the security of the rest of humanity is considered unimportant. Torture and assassination are permissible and completely ignored if they are carried out by America, the Zionists and their puppets," the Ayatollah said.
"They and their western partners have equipped the usurper Zionist regime with nuclear weapons and posed a big threat to this sensitive region, while this very deceitful collection (of countries) do not stand the peaceful use of the nuclear energy for independent nations and use all their possibilities to clash with the production of nuclear fuel for radiomedicines and other peaceful humanitarian uses," he said.
Where then, did the solution lie? In strengthening NAM, Khamenei said.
"We can help improve the 'political productivity' of the Non-Aligned Movement in global governance. We can prepare a historic document aimed to bring about a change in this governance and to provide for its administrative tools," he said.
"We can plan for effective economic cooperation and define paradigms for cultural relationships among ourselves. Undoubtedly, establishing an active and motivated secretariat for this organization will be a great and significant help in achieving these goals," Khamenei added.
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