Ahmadinejad: Iran Determined to Continue Nuclear Program

VOA News
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated his defiant stance against Western powers, saying it is Iran's national right to have a nuclear-energy program.
Speaking to a crowd in southern Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad said Iran considers nuclear energy its definite right and does not accept oppressive regulations.
Nuclear energy is our obvious right, he told the chanting crowd.
According to Iran expert Paul Ingram, of the London-based British-American Security Information Council, Mr. Ahmadinejad's words are a political tool to whip up domestic support.
"While it might serve Ahmadinejad's domestic purposes to make such statements and to frame the debate in a rights-based debate, defending Iran's national pride, their interests lie in a stable region where Iran can play a full part within the regional international community and statements like this do not assist that objective," he said.
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