Friday Sermon: Iran Won't Yield To Oppression, Double Standard On Nuclear Rights; We Muslims Have Never Relied On Aggressive Moves Or Brutality

In his Friday sermon, interim Tehran Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that Iran would not yield to any type of oppression or double standard regarding its absolute nuclear rights.

Addressing thousands of worshipers at Tehran University's central campus, Rafsanjani, who is also Expediency Council chairman, said, "They [the West] are not going to abandon taking advantage of the remote probability of Iran's access to nuclear weapons in order to deprive us of our natural and absolute right to master the nuclear sciences."

He said that Iran would never yield to such a double standard and oppression, and added, "This is typically the oppression they observe in dealing with scientific works conducted in Third World countries. But who gave them the right to monopolize most advanced technologies, such as nuclear technology?... Is it merely because they enjoy the veto right at the UN Security Council?
He added, "We are Muslims, and therefore, we do not rely on aggressive moves, or brutality, as we have not done so in the past, and will not do so in the future."

Rafsanjani said, "It is easy to prove that the majority of the problems in the world today are due to the West's resorting to the logic of military power."

Noting the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II, he said that the war "should have been a good lesson for the mankind... but with the passage of 60 years the reigning spirit over the superpowers in today's world leads us to draw conclusion that they have not taken appropriate lessons from that war, since they trespass the barriers of humanity and civilized social life at times."

He also said that "proper care should therefore be taken not to let the mankind face more international catastrophes due to such inappropriate conduct of certain world powers."

(See also the MEMRI TV page for clips of Friday sermons.)

Sources: IRNA, IRIBnews, Iran, May 9, 2008

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