DAR AL ISLAM-IRAN: AHMADINEJAD SAYS "...WE WILL GIVE THEM A HISTORIC SLAP IN THE FACE"...THE CROWD CHANTS IN RESPONSE: "DEATH TO AMERICA ! ! ! "

Ahmadinejad: Iran will press ahead with nuclear work
Reuters

Tehran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran would not retreat from its right to nuclear technology and that a UN resolution imposing sanctions on Iran was "invalid".

"The Iranian nation is wise and will stick to its nuclear work and is ready to defend it completely," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a rally in the southern city of Ahvaz.
"The UN resolution against Iran's atomic work has no validity for Iranians. It is illegal and politically motivated."

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on December 23 to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology in an attempt to stop uranium enrichment work that could produce material that could be used in bombs.

Ahmadinejad said some world powers were bullying Iran over its nuclear programme. "If bullying powers ... want to resist [Iranians' will], we will give them a historic slap in the face," he said, as the crowd chanted "Death to America".

Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, echoing the tough line taken by Iranian leaders, indicated yesterday that Iran might cold-shoulder the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by quitting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"It is up to the government to decide whether it wants to pull out of the NPT, if pressured," Elham said.


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