Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad brushed off the prospect of economic sanctions on his country over nuclear activities, which he said Iran would continue to pursue in a peaceful program for its power plants.
He also said Monday that there was no need for talks with the United States over Iraq now that a permanent government had been formed there.
Speaking at a rare news briefing with Iranian and foreign reporters in Tehran that was broadcast live with simultaneous translation, Ahmedinejad said it would be a “mistake” for other countries to introduce sanctions on Iran, adding that its nuclear activities were “transparent” and “peaceful.”
“If they place limitations on us, it will be more damaging to them than to us,” Ahmedinejad said. “Our economic foundations are strong. We have built this country ourselves. We have the necessary means to defend ourselves.
“We are not threatening any country,” he said. “We don’t need the language of threats.”
While Iran has maintained that its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes, Western analysts have suspected that Iran has a second, secret program.
After months of confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program, the prospect of the first face-to-face talks between Washington and Iran arose in March, when the two sides agreed to meet on how to halt sectarian violence and restore calm in Iraq.
On Monday, when asked whether the talks should still be held, Ahmedinejad replied there was “no need” now that a government was in place in Iraq.
Iran has long supported Iraqi Shiite political parties and maintained personal ties with their leaders. At the time the possibility of the talks was being discussed, the U.S. had been putting pressure on Shiite leaders to make concessions to Sunni parties as Iraq was trying to form a government.
Last week, Shiite politician Jawad al-Maliki was selected to be Iraq’s first permanent prime minister, and he is now in the process of assembling a Cabinet.
Ahmedinejad said the Iraqi people should be allowed to “stand on their own two feet.”
As for its nuclear program, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to be released later this week, most likely finding that Iran refuses to comply with requests to suspend enrichment activities.
Ahmedinejad said in the news briefing that Iran would continue to work within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the IAEA. But he added, “If we feel that there is no benefit for us, we will review our policy.”
The Bush administration called last week for Russia and Europe to penalize Iran over its suspected nuclear-arms program if no agreement on sanctions can be reached by the U.N. Security Council in May.