Ahmadinejad says he won't rule out an Iran nuclear bomb
(Read article summary)Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments coincide with report that IAEA withheld evidence about Iran's nuclear weapon capabilities
In a rare interview with Western media, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran has no need for nuclear weapons, but he did not rule out the possibility that Iran might develop them in the future. The broadcasting of Mr. Ahmadinejad's remarks coincided with a new report, based on previously undisclosed information, that the United Nations' nuclear watchdog has withheld evidence about how close Iran is to making a nuclear bomb.
In excerpts of an interview aired Thursday night on NBC News, Ahmadinejad said that "the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes... will never be closed down here in Iran." When interviewer Ann Curry asked whether Iran would ever develop a nuclear weapon, Ahmadinejad said Iran had no need for such weapons.
Curry pressed Ahmadinejad again on the question, noting that "people will remark that you did not say no." He replied, "You can take from this whatever you want, madam." Further excerpts of the interview, which was taped a week previously in Tehran, ran Friday morning. The full interview is to be aired Sunday afternoon.
Ahmadinejad's refusal to rule out Iran building a nuclear weapon comes just a day after President Barack Obama announced plans to scrap the Bush administration's missile shield plan in favor of a new system which would better deal with short- and medium-ranged missiles launched from Iran. President Bush's plan would have placed interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic to defend against long-range Iranian missiles targeting Europe.
