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'Because of our religious beliefs…': Iran supreme leader on nuclear bomb
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear accord have been at a stalemate since September.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that reaching a deal with the West over country's nuclear ambitions was possible if the infrastructure remained intact. "There is nothing wrong with the agreement (with the West), but the infrastructure of our nuclear industry should not be touched," he said as per state media. Tehran should continue working with the UN nuclear watchdog under the framework of safeguards, he added.
Talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear accord have been at a stalemate since September, with both sides accusing each other of making unreasonable demands. In 2019, Iran began breaching the deal's terms in response to a US withdrawal from the pact in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump.
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The Iran nuclear agreement limited country’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms.
Khamenei also said Iran has never sought to build a nuclear bomb.
"Accusations about Tehran seeking nuclear weapons is a lie and they know it. We do not want nuclear arms because of our religious beliefs. Otherwise they (the West) would not have been able to stop it," Khamenei said.
Earlier, at an annual speech marking the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, his predecessor and the founder of the Islamic Republic, Iran's supreme leader had said, “Some people are mistaken to think if we back down from our stances in certain cases that will cause the enmity of the US, the global arrogance, or Israel toward us to diminish. This is a mistake."
