Iranian leader takes aim at West

NUCLEAR

UNITED NATIONS—

Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took his country’s battle over its nuclear program to the world forum yesterday, lashing out at the United States and other Western countries that have warned against its suspected nuclear weapons development. “Any licence for pre-emptive measures, which are essentially based on gauging intentions rather than objective facts, and are in fact the modern manifestation of interventionist and war-mongering tendencies of the past, is in blatant contradiction to the very foundations of the United Nations,” Ahmadinejad told the U.N. summit of world leaders. The U. S. has long accused Iran of trying to build a nuclear bomb. But yesterday France joined Washington’s campaign to rein in Tehran’s suspected nuclear ambitions, as Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called for “determined response” to the proliferation of deadly arms.

Britain and Germany have also moved to Washington’s corner, threatening Iran with referral to the U.N. Security Council, the body responsible for approving international sanctions or the use of force.

However, the European countries say they prefer “gradual pressure” to sanctions or military measures, and the U. N.’ s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is expected to set a new deadline for operations to halt at an Iranian uranium processing plant it says could produce material for nuclear bombs. The ultra- conservative Ahmadinejad has taken a hard line on Iran’s development of nuclear power, insisting it is part of a peaceful domestic program. Canada’s Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew told CTV’s Canada AM

yesterday that he expected to meet with his Iranian counterpart next week.

“Iran will have to respect the nuclear proliferation treaty,” and its international obligations,” he said.

“ It has not done so in the past and Canada has been one of the foremost advocates that Iran . . . be brought to the Security Council eventually if they don’t respect their international obligations,” he said. Canada also has a longstanding dispute with Iran over the death of Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad accused the wealthy countries of monopolizing the U.N. and failing to democratize the Security Council, which is dominated by its five veto-bearing permanent members: U. S., Britain, France, Russia and China.