Iran's newly-revealed nuclear facility is open for inspection by UN experts, the country's president has said.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that the plant, thought to be under construction near the holy city of Qom, was being built in line with UN regulations.
Leaders of the US, UK and France have accused Iran of building a new plant to enrich uranium, in breach of UN rules.
They raised the prospect of new, tough sanctions against Iran if it does not fully co-operate with global powers.
However, at a news conference in New York, where he has been attending the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Ahmadinejad firmly rebutted the Western criticism.
Those leaders who had complained about the plant had made a big mistake and would regret the move, he said.
"We don't have any problems with inspections of the facility. We have no fears," he said, referring to calls for immediate access to the site by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog.
He justified Iran's apparent concealment of the plant by saying there were no international requirements to declare any nuclear facility until 180 days before fissile material was introduced into it.
There was a flat denial of the claims - by US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown - that the plant was a secret facility.
"If it was, why would we have informed the IAEA about it a year ahead of time?" Mr Ahmadinejad was reported as saying.
He reiterated Tehran's position that Iran was not interested in developing nuclear weapons, describing them as "against humanity".
'Serial deception'
Mr Ahmadinejad spoke out hours after Mr Obama, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Brown took to the stage in Pittsburgh - site of a G20 summit - to condemn the building of the new plant.
Iran's decision to build a secret facility represented a "direct challenge to the basic compact" of the global non-proliferation regime, Mr Obama said.
espite Iran's assertions that the facility was for peaceful purposes, the new plant was "not consistent" with that goal, the US president said.
Speaking after Mr Obama, Mr Brown accused the Iranians of "serial deception" and said: "Iran must abandon any military ambitions for its nuclear programme."
Mr Sarkozy described the situation as a challenge to the entire international community.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he was "seriously concerned", and China urged Iran to work within the IAEA framework.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "grave concern" over Tehran's continued uranium enrichment activities, and said: "The burden of proof is on Iran".
Talks due
The existence of Iran's first enrichment plant, at Natanz, was only confirmed after intelligence emerged from Iranian exile groups several years ago.
Western governments are said to have known of the existence of the new enrichment plant for some time.
In Washington, US officials said the Western nations decided to reveal their intelligence assessments when the Iranians realised the plant's secrecy was compromised.
Comments
Post a Comment