Iranian President Sheikh Hasan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran will never seek nuclear weapons, indicating he has full authority to negotiate a deal with the West over the nuclear program.
Iranian President Sheikh Hasan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran will never seek nuclear weapons, indicating he has full authority to negotiate a deal with the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
In a US television interview days before he travels to New York for the UN General Assembly, His eminence praised US President Barack Obama for taking a "positive" approach toward Tehran in a letter.
Sheikh Rouhani also reiterated that Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons.
"Under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we ever," Sheikh Rouhani said. "We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb, and we are not going to do so," he said, according to the US network, adding that Iran was solely "looking for peaceful nuclear technology."
The Iranian President told NBC News: "In its nuclear program, this government enters with full power and has complete authority." "The problem won't be from our side," he was quoted as saying. "We have sufficient political latitude to solve this problem."
Regarding a recent letter sent to him by his American counterpart Barack Obama, Sheikh Rouhani said that the tone of the letter was positive and constructive. "I believe the leaders in all countries could think in their national interest and they should not be under the influence of pressure groups," he said.
When asked whether Obama looked weak by shelving a threatened strike on Syria, Sheikh Rouhani said: "Any government or administration that decides to wage a war, we consider a weakness. And any government that decides on peace, we look on it with respect to peace."
Iran's new President Hasan Rouhani described the Zionist entity as an "occupier" which has brought instability to the Middle East.
Sheikh Rouhani also asserted the positive intentions of Iran towards the nations of the region.
"We believe in the ballot box. We do not seek war with any country. We seek peace and friendship among the nations of the region," he said.
President Hasan Rouhani appears to be keeping campaign pledges of broader domestic freedoms, a week before heading for New York.
He campaigned on engaging constructively with the international community and also on shoring up the ailing sanctions-hit economy.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel commented on Sheikh Rouhani's interview saying he was "glad" to hear his remarks and that Obama had always been "willing to talk." "But I think the next step here is let's see how Iran's actions match their words," Hagel told the "PBS Newshour" on public television.
In an interview Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said Washington is willing to test chances of dialog with Iran. “There are indications that Rouhani, the new president, is somebody who is looking to open dialog with the West and with the United States, in a way that we haven't seen in the past. And so we should test it,” Obama told Spanish-language network Telemundo.
