Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful
World must fight spread of WMD, foreign minister tells U.N.
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Iran foreign minister, seeking to deflect the international community's tough stance toward his country's nuclear aspirations, told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that Iran is committed to the peaceful development of technology.
"While we insist on our right to technology for peaceful purposes, we have, and will, leave no stone unturned in order to provide assurances of our peaceful intentions," Kamal Kharazzi said.
The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has demanded that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment and centrifuge activities. Iran has rejected that demand.
There have been long-standing concerns that Iran has aspirations to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran has said its program is peaceful.
On September 18, the International Atomic Energy Agency called on Iran to clarify outstanding issues related to its nuclear program by November 25, the date of its next scheduled meeting, and to freeze all work on enrichment and centrifuges.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, called the demand "illegal."
The United States had wanted to refer Iran to the United Nations to face possible sanctions if it did not comply with demands.
Before the General Assembly, Kharazzi said the international community must confront "the existence and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
"As the only victim of the unbridled use of these weapons in recent years,' he said, referring to the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s, in which Iraq used chemical weapons on Iran, "Iran feels very strongly about the absolute imperative of a collective and rule-based multilateral campaign to eradicate all these weapons and to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons as an interim measure."
He said there must be a "universal application of disarmament and nonproliferation instruments in a comprehensive and nondiscriminatory manner."
"The relevant multinational instruments must become truly universal and the rights and obligations of all must be scrupulously enforced," he said. "Access to technology for peaceful purposes is the only true incentive for the universality of these instruments."
He added that Iran "has always been prepared" to cooperate with inspectors.
Kharazzi took aim at Israel, saying the Jewish state has obstructed efforts by Iran and others to pursue "a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East."
Despite wide suspicions, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it has a nuclear weapons program.
Also, Iran condemned terrorism and said no state can fight it alone.
Kharazzi also praised Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recent statement that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was illegal.
"The increasing lawless militarism, the second face of the challenge we encounter, is the use of brute and unsanctioned military force to achieve some political goals, albeit desirable goals.
"A clear example of this lawlessness is the attack against Iraq. The attack against Iraq was illegal. I wish to thank our distinguished secretary-general for making this statement a few days ago and courageously defending the charter of the United Nations and the rule of law."
Even though Saddam Hussein has been removed and Iranians are pleased to see the person Kharazzi called "the murderer of their sons" imprisoned, he said the principles of the U.N. charter indicate that "this cannot but be regarded as the fruit of the forbidden tree."
"The international community has demonstrated that it will not celebrate achieving this desirable goal through illegal means of glorifying military power, through rushing to use force without the approval of the United Nations."
