TEHRAN - A top Iranian conservative cleric on Friday accused the United States and Europe of using allegations Tehran is seeking an atomic weapon as a pretext to deprive the Islamic republic of nuclear technology.
"The West is lying when they say they are afraid of Iran with an atomic weapon, the reality is that they want to deprive us from gaining science and technology," Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said, followed by the usual chants of "Death to America, down with Israel" from the faithful.
In an address at the weekly Friday prayers, broadcast live on state radio, he added: "This regime and nation does not need and want an atomic bomb, and it will not heed your demands, since every youth is an atomic bomb."
More than half of Iran's nearly 70 million population were born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tehran's clerical regime insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and that it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons, as charged by Washington.
Tehran is currently negotiating with the Britain, France and Germany who are trying to convince Iran to halt its work on the nuclear fuel cycle -- including the sensitive process of enriching uranium -- in return for a package of incentives covering trade, security and technology.
The United States maintains that Iran is trying to covertly develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists that its program is purely meant to meet civilian energy needs.
US President George W. Bush on Thursday renewed sanctions barring US firms and citizens from oil dealings with Iran, citing an "unusual and extraordinary threat" from Tehran.
03/11/2005 11:06 GMT