Iran Brands the U.S. an ‘Atomic Criminal’

In the midst of an American-led push for nuclear disarmament, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has labeled the United States an “atomic criminal,” the U.S. being the only country to have used nuclear weapons in warfare. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, called for an independent body to oversee nuclear disarmament.

Iran and North Korea are key targets in the U.S.-directed effort to reduce the danger of nuclear weapons in the world.

Khamenei, in a message read at a conference on nuclear disarmament in Tehran, maintained that the use of nuclear weapons is prohibited by Islam. –JCL

The BBC:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has labelled the US an “atomic criminal” at a conference on nuclear disarmament in Tehran.

He also said that the use of nuclear weapons was prohibited by religion.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an independent body should be set up to oversee nuclear disarmament.

Iran has been angered by a recent US review of nuclear policy, which Tehran sees as a threat to use nuclear weapons against it, a BBC correspondent says.

Read more