Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Iran Leader Says Nuclear Issue Closed

UNITED NATIONS - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday that his country's disputed nuclear program is closed as a political issue, and said Tehran will disregard U.N. Security Council resolutions imposed by "arrogant powers" to curb its nuclear program.

Instead, he told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that Iran has decided to pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program "through its appropriate legal path," the International Atomic Energy Agency which is the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

Earlier this month, IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei said Iran's cooperation with the agency represented an important step, but he urged Tehran to answer all questions - including reported experiments that link enrichment and missile technology - before the end of the year. This week, IAEA technical officials returned to Tehran to deal with the nuclear questions.

When Ahmadinejad was ushered to the podium of the General Assembly to speak, the U.S. delegation walked out, leaving only a low-ranking note-taker to listen to his speech which indirectly accused the United States and Israel of major human rights violations........

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