Israel on Saturday night renewed its call for Tehran to stop enriching uranium
after an Iranian politician on Friday confirmed that his country could produce
nuclear weapons.
According to a statement published late Friday on the
website of the Islamic Consultative Assembly [the Iranian Parliament],
politician Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam said that though Iran has the “science
and technology to produce nuclear weapons, Iran would never choose this
path.”
Moghaddam added that atomic weapons were not on the Islamic
Republic’s agenda and cited a 2005 fatwa by Ayatollah Khameini, who said that
“producing nuclear weapons, stockpiling and using them are against Shari’a
law.”
An Israeli diplomatic source in Jerusalem said in response, “Iran
is trying to hide from the world the military aspects of its nuclear program.
However, an Iranian official confirmed this today.
“Israel’s position is
clear: Iran must stop enriching Uranium, it must get all the enriched material
above 3.5 percent out if its territory and it must dismantle the underground
facility in Qom,” the official said.
