Iran’s Supreme Leader rejects UN decree on nukes

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 08 – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Monday to defy a resolution by the United Nations Security Council imposing sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, saying that Tehran would never abandon its nuclear program. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 08 – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Monday to defy a resolution by the United Nations Security Council imposing sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, saying that Tehran would never abandon its nuclear program.

“Nuclear energy as a domestic achievement is a source of pride for the Iranian nation and the Islamic world”, Khamenei told a gathering in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, on the occasion of a revered Shiite Muslim holy day. His speech was aired in part on state television with a voiceover.

“If certain Arab and Islamic governments imagine that by uniting with the United States and Britain and imposing sanctions they can win the satisfaction of the Zionist regime (Israel) and sooth this usurper regime’s concerns, they are making a political error”, Khamenei said.

“Undoubtedly, the Iranian nation will not forgo its right. The country’s officials are not allowed to relinquish this great achievement”, he added.

On December 23, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1737 to slap sanctions on Tehran and once again demanded it suspend all uranium enrichment activities.