Tehran, Iran - Iran’s new defence minister said on Tuesday using nuclear technology for military purposes was forbidden by Islam but Tehran would continue to develop a nuclear programme to meet its electricity needs.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark his official introduction as minister, Brigadier-General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar added Iran would continue to develop ballistic missiles as a deterrent against attack.
Accused by the United States of seeking atomic arms, Iran says it has no intention of using its nuclear facilities for anything other than peaceful purposes.
“As our Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) has said, the non-peaceful use of nuclear technology is religiously forbidden,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Najjar as saying.
“Since fossil fuels are going to run out we should replace them with nuclear energy,” he said, adding that Iran must prove through negotiations that it is not trying to build atom bombs.
Concern in the West over Iran’s nuclear programme was heightened this month when it broke UN seals and resumed work at a uranium conversion facility – a key plant in the process to create atomic reactor or bomb-grade fuel.
Iran has rejected demands by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it stop uranium conversion, a stance which some European Union officials have warned could see it referred to the UN Security Council for punitive action when the IAEA meets again next month.
In his speech, Najjar highlighted the importance of Iran’s Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile – capable of hitting Israel and US bases in the Gulf.
“One of the major projects pursued by this ministry is the production of deterrence weapons and the manufacture of Shahab-3 is in accordance with that policy and will not be halted,” the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Opposition groups say Iran plans to use the Shahab-3 to carry nuclear warheads. Iran says Shahab-3 is a conventional weapon, which would only be used if Iran came under attack.