Iran: We will never halt our nuclear program

"Iran will not negotiate its nuclear program"

During an official press conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared, "From our point of view, Iran’s nuclear issue is over. We continue our work within the framework of global regulations and in close interaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We will never negotiate over obvious rights of the Iranian nation." This statement came as questions were asked regarding Iran’s nuclear program and the deadline set by the United States for Iran to accept the offer to talks with six world powers and to trade incentives should Iran suspend it uranium enrichment activities. Ahmadinejad stated defiantly that Iran will never halt its uranium enrichment program nor will it compromise its right to do so.

The Iranian president rejected any notion of a deadline as has been asserted by American President, Barack Hussein Obama, and continues to declare that Iran has a sovereign right to explore and develop a nuclear program. These declarations have served to further alarm Western European and U.S. leaders regarding Iran’s military pursuit of nuclear weaponry.

Ahmadinejad did state that Iran intends to distribute a package of proposals to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that addresses global challenges. He declined to state of the package would include any discussion over Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Some analysts believe that this is nothing more than an attempt to buy more time and to see if U.S. President Obama, seen by many in the world as a fumbling diplomat, will take the bait and back-off of his declared deadline for Iran to accept an offer for talks or endure harsher sanctions. Others state that Iran may be well aware of the challenges to enforce current sanctions and the fact that Russia and China often veto harsher U.N. Sanction resolutions in the Security Council.

Regardless, the Iranian President vows to never stop processing uranium or to suspend any element of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran continues to assert that it has a right to develop nuclear technology and its clandestine efforts to acquire advanced technology and machines for use in the processing of nuclear fuel and the development of nuclear warheads is an increasingly common event. The Theocratic Leadership of Iran, to include Ahmadinejad, continuously makes their intent to destroy the United States and Israel perfectly clear. The Iranian government evades making any statements that concretely deny that they are developing nuclear weapons.

At present, it appears as though the American offer to talk about Iran’s nuclear efforts and intentions, under threats of harsher sanctions, has resulted in absolutely no progress for the United States and an enhanced Iranian defiance. Some speculate that Iran will not come to the table until after a significant portion of its processing capability has been destroyed by a military action. The Obama Administration has made it clear, through gesture and deed, that military strikes against key Iranian facilities are out of the plan for the United States. But, rumors persist that Israel is planning and intends to perform surgical air raids similar to those performed against Iraq’s nuclear facilities years earlier.