ARAK/WASHINGTON:
Iran's president launched a new phase in the Arak heavy-water reactor project on
Saturday, saying Tehran would not give up its right to nuclear technology
despite Western fears it aims to make atomic
bombs.
President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad was speaking just days before an August 31 deadline set by the UN
Security Council for Iran to halt uranium enrichment the West's biggest worry in
Iran's atomic programme or face possible
sanctions.
"No one can deprive
a nation of its rights based on its capabilities,"- Ahmadinejad said in his
speech to inaugurate the heavy water
project.
The Arak project, once
complete, will produce plutonium as a by-product that could be used to make
atomic warheads. But the reactor that will produce this is still being built.
"Iran is not a threat to
anybody, not even to the Zionist regime,"- Ahmadinejad said, using Iran's term
for its arch-enemy Israel.
The
Los Angeles Times reported Washington had indicated it was ready to form an
independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade if necessary.
Analysts say sanctions imposed by just a few states would have limited
impact.
Under US terrorism
laws, Washington could ramp up its own sanctions, including financial
constraints on Tehran and interception of missile and nuclear materials en route
to Iran, US ambassador John Bolton said