Bombshell: Iran envoy in nuclear weapon slip-up

AFP: Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog caused a buzz among journalists on Wednesday when he apparently misspoke and said his country had the right to a nuclear weapon.

VIENNA (AFP) — Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog caused a buzz among journalists on Wednesday when he apparently misspoke and said his country had the right to a nuclear weapon.

After saying as usual that Iran was only pursuing nuclear energy for civilian purposes, Ali Asghar Soltanieh strayed alarmingly from the Islamic republic's usual line.

"The whole Iranian nation are united… on (the) inalienable right of (having a) nuclear weapon," the envoy to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said.

He later got back on track, concluding: "We will not deprive our great nation from benefitting from peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

The UN Security Council has ordered Iran to suspend all enrichment-related activities until the IAEA has been able to verify the exact nature of Tehran's programme amid fears from Western powers that it wants to build an atomic bomb.

But Tehran has ignored such calls, insisting it wants to produce civilian nuclear energy.