Ali Larijani interview
Updated on 06 March 2006
Jon Snow interviews Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, live in Tehran.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani
Starting our News from Iran week, Jon Snow interviews Ali Larijani the man at the heart of the IAEA discussions.
>>Watch the interview
Comments from the interview
Asked what he felt about America's UN ambassador John Bolton's threat that Iran faces 'painful consequences' as the US will use every tool to prevent Iran progressing towards a nuclear weapon:
ALI LARIJANI: "It seems to me that this is one of those comments that cannot be done - this is the problem and this tells me about the weakness of the Americans.. They have to save themselves from the quagmire of Iraq ...."
He continued:
"I think that all the opinions of the political pundits can see the unilateral actions of the US in my part of the world and these have all had detrimental effects.
For the Americans they are bullying and they want to establish democracy as they see it in Iraq. This is the current situation they see in Iraq as a result.
The first day they went into Iraq they said that 'we want to start a wave of democracy so that their neighbours understand that but they have created a massacre . "
JON SNOW: But this is Iran - do you think they want to come in here? Do they want to attack you?
ALI LARIJANI: "I think that the Americans, well if they think correctly about their best interests and think rationally, they won't entertain such futile thoughts.
They have many problems - these comments are made basically because they cannot analyse the situation correctly and that is why they make such comments, therefore we don't attach a lot of importance or value to such comments".
SNOW: Does Iran want to build a nuclear bomb?
ALI ARIJANI The national security doctrine of Iran has no place for an atomic bomb - we don't need such a thought and we have announced as much time and again.
And the agency in its latest report after 3 years of inspections and studying, the Iranian nuclear technology in its latest report it has announced that we have found no documents relating to diversion on the part of Iran.
This sensationalism that Americans and a number of other countries are fanning is a political story it is not a real issue"
See also:
>>News from Iran
News from Iran blog
