Rouhani says Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons 'on principle'

• President says religion forbids pursuit of WMDs

• Generals told to let diplomacy do its work

theguardian.com, Agencies in Tehran, Saturday 1 March 2014

President Hassan Rouhani has told Iran's generals to avoid provocative
military manoeuvres. Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP

Iran’s president said on Saturday the Islamic Republic has decided not to develop nuclear weapons out of principle, not only because it is prevented from doing so by treaties.

President Hassan Rouhani also urged Iran’s military leaders to let diplomacy prevail in dealing with potential foreign threats, in a clear reference to efforts to end the nuclear dispute and decades of hostile relations with the west.

“It is very important to formulate one’s sentences and speeches in a way that is not construed as threat, intention to strike a blow,” Rouhani said in a meeting with Iran’s top military echelon.

“We must be very careful in our calculations. Launching missiles and staging military exercises to scare off the other side is not good deterrence, although a necessity in its proper place,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. “A misfire could burst into flames and wreak havoc to everything.”

While Iranian nuclear negotiators were haggling with world powers in Vienna last month, many generals were beating war drums at home and flexing their military muscles. “Our forefathers primed us for the final epic battle,” said the chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad-Ali Jafari.

Such belligerence was absent from Rouhani’s speech on Saturday. The president said that if Iran wanted weapons of mass destruction, it would be easier for it to make chemical or biological weapons. In doing so he was reiterating a policy set by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who issued a religious decree banning the production and use of nuclear weapons. He has said holding such arms is a sin as well as “useless, harmful and dangerous”.

“We are not after weapons of mass destruction. That’s our red line,” Rouhani said. “If Iran was after weapons of mass destruction, it would build chemical weapons. Those are easier to make. It would build biological arms, which are even easier than making chemical weapons.”

He said Iran’s “beliefs” and commitment to “ethical principles”, not merely the United Nations’ nuclear non-proliferation treaty, prevent it from making a bomb. Iran is a signatory to the NPT and says it will remain committed to its obligations not to build nuclear weapons under the treaty but will not compromise on its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.

“We signed these treaties to show the world we are not after such weapons,” Rouhani told military commanders. “Even if there were no NPT or other treaties, our belief, our faith, our religion and principles tell us not to seek weapons of mass destruction.”

The US and its allies fear that Iran seeks to develop the ability to make a nuclear weapon, should it want one. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear programme is peaceful and geared towards generating electricity and producing radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

Rouhani said his government’s policy of moderation and easing tensions with the outside world is “not a tactic” but a genuine change in the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy.

“The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on easing tensions and building confidence with the world. This is not a tactic or slogan. Iran is not seeking tensions with others … but we don’t compromise on our dignity, independence, national interests and values,” he said.

Rouhani says his countrymen elected him president in June to change Iran’s foreign policy and shift away from the bombastic style adopted under his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has said, however, that its principles including maintaining a peaceful nuclear programme will not change.

That policy, also supported by Khamenei, led to a historic interim nuclear deal with world powers on 24 November, in Geneva. Iran stopped enriching uranium to 20% and started neutralising its existing stockpile of that grade just steps away from weapons material in January, in order to fulfil commitments reached under the deal. The US and the European Union also lifted some sanctions in response to the Iranian moves.

Iran and the six-nation group – the five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany – began talks earlier this month for a comprehensive deal in Vienna.

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