Rafsanjani, the upset candidate in the recent presidential elections, criticised the monopolist Western nations for trying to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear capability.
He called on Iranian leaders not to give in to Western demands for them to abandon their nuclear project. With wisdom and the right approach, we should not allow the loss of this legitimate right, he said.
Tehran is under the international limelight after it was discovered that the theocratic regime had been hiding critical aspects of its vast nuclear programme from the outside world. Both the United States and the European Union suspect that Tehran is trying to obtain the nuclear bomb, a charge denied by Iranian leaders.
Addressing worshipers, the 70-year-old Rafsanjani said, If such an opportunity and right is lost, it will be a shameful stain on history. But if we succeed in safeguarding our right, we will have achieved a great honour in the history of the Islamic Revolution.
In a separate development, Irans new ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking on state television on Thursday, said that Iran would never be deprived of its nuclear rights.
“Nuclear states do not have the right to deprive other states from using nuclear energy”, Ahmadinejad said.
