Iran will never make the mistake to build nuclear weapons: envoy

TEHRAN, Nov. 3(MNA) – Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran will never make a “strategic mistake” to build nuclear weapons.

“Tehran can not compete in terms of the numbers of warheads possessed by the nuclear-armed major powers, so if it seeks to produce nuclear weapons, it will be placed in a disadvantageous position compared with these countries,” Soltanieh told a conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Monday.

So Iran will not make such a “strategic mistake”, he stated.

Iran is as powerful as these countries without possession of nuclear weapons, the diplomat asserted.

The U.S. and its allies claim Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear activities are solely meant for peaceful purposes.

As a signatory to the NPT, Iran has right to nuclear technology for civilian purposes.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Soltanieh pointed to the upcoming talks between Iran and six major world powers, saying Iran had called on the 5+1 group (Five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) to come to the negotiating table without preconditions.

Iran and 5+1 group have expressed readiness to resume talks in mid-November.