Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the Islamic republic was "always ready" for talks on its nuclear program but blasted Western attempts to pressure Iran with sanctions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the Islamic republic was "always ready" for talks on its nuclear program but blasted Western attempts to pressure Iran with sanctions. "We were always ready for negotiations," Ahmadinejad told a press conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, while decrying attempts by world powers to "put pressure on Iran." "They think that they will achieve something by putting pressure on Iran. But they will not." Ahmadinejad said that embargoes are ineffectual and the West should drop its aggressive approach if talks on Tehran's nuclear program are to be successful. He added that the West "must reject its exploitative approach" toward Iran if any breakthroughs are to be made. Also on Wednesday, in a press conference in Azerbaijan, Ahmadinejad said his country does not need a nuclear bomb, PressTV reported. "The Iranian nation does not need a nuclear bomb to defend itself, as Iran's nuclear bomb is its bravery and national honor,” Ahmadinejad said to a crowd of Iranians residing in the neighboring country. He reportedly added that "nuclear bombs belong to those countries that are backward in a historical sense, and the Iranian nation has no use for it." He also said that, despite Western opposition, "today there are 6,000 centrifuges performing nuclear enrichment" in Iran, and that his response to sanctions is "to access pinnacles of growth and progress one by one." Iran and world powers are set to resume talks on the country's nuclear program on December 5, but the sides have yet to agree on a venue and agenda. Ahmadinejad was in Azerbaijan for a summit of leaders of five states littoral to the Caspian Sea to address overlapping claims to the sea's vast energy riches. "Tehran and Baku have strengths and experiences that can be used for the comfort, advancement and development of the people and governments of our two nations," Ahmadinejad said after a meeting with Azeri Prime Minister Artur Rasizadeh on the sidelines of the Caspian summit. Russia President Dmitry Medvedev stressed the importance of Iran having a peaceful nuclear program, in his first meeting with Ahmadinejad since a breakdown in ties, the Kremlin said. "The conversation was of a completely open nature. Neither ourselves, nor our colleague avoided unpleasant questions," Medvedev's top foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko said after the meeting in Baku. Medvedev met Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the regional summit.Ahmadinejad: Iran’s Nuclear Bomb is its Bravery and National Honor
