Contrary to the Reuters headline, Khamenei is not really ruling out making a nuclear bomb. In fact, he is doing just the opposite. He is asking that the nuclear powers, including (and especially) Israel, divest themselves of nuclear weapons. When they do not do so, he will declare that Iran is justified in developing nuclear weapons. “Iran leader rules out nuclear bomb, will pursue energy,” from Reuters, August 30 (thanks to Block Ness):
(Reuters) – Iran has no interest in nuclear weapons but will keep pursuing peaceful nuclear energy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told heads of state from developing countries in Tehran.
Iran, hosting a summit of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), is hoping the high-profile event will prove that Western efforts to isolate it and punish it economically for its disputed nuclear programme have failed.
“Our motto is nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none,” Khamenei told the assembled heads of state.
But discord over Syria swiftly marred the summit when Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi urged member states to support Syrians striving to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, whose staunchest regional ally is Iran.
“Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty as it is a political and strategic necessity,” Mursi said, prompting a walkout by the Syrian delegation, according to the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera….
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, attending the Tehran summit, urged Khamenei late on Wednesday to take concrete steps to prove Iran’s nuclear work is peaceful.
The West suspects Iran is seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an accusation Tehran denies.
In his speech, Khamenei criticized the U.N. Security Council as an illogical, unjust and defunct relic of the past used by the United States “to impose its bullying manner on the world”.
“They (Americans) talk of human rights when what they mean is Western interests. They talk of democracy when what they have is military intervention in other countries,” he added.
They (Islamic supremacists) talk of human rights when what they mean is Sharia law. They talk of democracy when what they have is a system that deprives women and non-Muslims of equal rights.