Ahmadinejad: 'Piece of paper' cannot stop atomic programme

Dec 24, 2006, 12:13 GMT

Tehran - In his first reaction to the United Nations sanctions against Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that 'a piece of paper' (the UN resolution) could not stop Iran's atomic programmes.

'They think they can stop our nuclear programmes by spreading a piece of paper but whether you like it or not, the fact is Iran has already become an atomic power,' Ahmadinejad said.

'Iran has already gained the necessary know-how to complete its own nuclear fuel cycle and there is nothing the West can do about it,' Ahmadinejad said.

The news network Khabar further quoted the president as saying the United Nations Security Council in agreeing upon the anti-Iran resolution had lost all credibility 'and proved to be merely the servant of the United States and Britain.'

Ahmadinejad said that Iran was not afraid of the resolution but would still be vigilant towards what he called conspiracies against the Islamic state.

'Israel openly and rudely says we have the atomic bomb, while (the veto powers) just reply with a smile (and) impose sanctions against us,' the president said.

'You (the West) have committed another grave mistake and I am sorry to say that you have lost the last opportunity to have friendship with the Iranian nation,' he added.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini had earlier Sunday said Tehran would 'apply more decisiveness' in pursuing its nuclear programmes following the United Nations sanctions against Iran.

Condemning the unanimous decision by the UN Security Council, the spokesman said: 'This move has been fully political, discriminatory, unfair and far beyond any legal basis and therefore it will have no impact on Iran's willingness to continue its peaceful nuclear path and we see ourselves in no way obliged to follow it.'

Hosseini confirmed press reports which had quoted chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as announcing the start of the installation of 3,000 centrifuges as of Sunday.

Iran has so far completed operation of two cascades of 164 centrifuges each and plans to increase the number of centrifuges to 3,000 by March 2007.

The spokesman however stressed that 'the doors for unconditional talks have not yet been closed.'