Iranian president leads rally against nuclear pressure

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday led a group of prayers to hold a rally against pressure exerted by Europe and the United States on Iran's nuclear program.

Worshipers in Tehran held a rally to support the country's nuclear energy program after concluding Friday prayers, and Ahmadinejad, along with other ranking officials, were present in the rally, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The protestors, chanting slogans and holding banners, expressed their support to the Iranian government's position on the nuclear issue and resolve to "sacrifice their lives" to secure Iran's right to use nuclear technology.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Jannati, Guardian Council chairman who served as substitute prayers leader of Tehran, reiterated that Iran will not be frightened away from its nuclear program by the referral of the case to the UN Security Council.

"We are not frightened of the probable sanction on nuclear issue since it can not hurt Iran," Jannati was quoted by local media as saying at a sermon on Friday.

It was also reported that some demonstrators gathered in front of the French Embassy in Tehran to protest against the EU's stance on the nuclear standoff.

Disciplinary forces, stationed around embassies of Britain, France and Germany since Friday morning, asked the demonstrators to disperse, the report said.

The protestors ended the demonstration after "expressing their disgust at unequal behavior of the EU trio" concerning Iran's access to peaceful nuclear technology," the report said.

Iran is currently under mounting pressure from the EU and the UN nuclear watchdog to suspend its highly sensitive activities related to uranium enrichment, a key step toward the construction of nuclear fuel cycle.

On Sept. 22, the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution, urging Tehran to suspend enrichment-related activities by November and threatening to refer the case to the Security Council.

The EU trio, as the longtime broker of the Iranian nuclear issue, expects to persuade Tehran out of its efforts to build nuclear fuel cycle, which, however, has seemed increasingly unpromising since Iran resumed its uranium conversion work, the preparatory step of enrichment, in early August in defiance of EU warnings.

Tehran has claimed that it will never re-suspend uranium conversion activities for it will not give up its legal rights.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civilian program, a charge denied by Tehran.

Source: Xinhua