A senior Iranian lawmaker warned
Western powers they would soon have to accept the reality of the country's
nuclear advances, Iran's state news agency reported late on Saturday, days
before talks are set to re-open on its disputed nuclear program.
The head of the parliamentary committee for
national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, was speaking at a
ceremony in Mashhad in memory of what Iran describes as its nuclear martyrs; at
least four scientists associated with Iran's nuclear program have been
assassinated since 2010 and a fifth was wounded in a bomb attack.
Western countries suspect Tehran of
covertly developing a nuclear weapons program, accusations Iran has repeatedly
denied. Both sides are set to take part in negotiations this week in an effort
to find a solution to international concerns, though even the location of the
talks has not yet been agreed.
Boroujerdi said the P5+1 group of countries
needed to change their policy because "confronting the Islamic Republic will
not be to their benefit", the IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
"Honorable Iran will continue the
debate about peaceful nuclear energy, and that moment isn't far away when the
world will see that arrogant countries, led by America and Europe, will accept
the reality of nuclear advances and Iran's membership into the nuclear
club."
He added that despite the climate of
threats and sanctions, Iran had made great progress in its nuclear capability
and was proficient in all stages of enrichment from mining raw uranium in
Iranian mines, producing yellow cake (concentrated uranium powder), building
centrifuges and injecting uranium gas into them.
Reuters