Iran’s nuclear achievement has angered US: official

TEHRAN - The US believes nuclear technology should be “monopolised” only by the West and is “angry” at Iran’s achievements in this field, a top Iranian official has said.

The US should understand the reality of the Iranian nation and be interactive instead of provoking confrontation, Allaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Majlis’ national security and foreign policy commission, said Saturday.

The West and the US still presume that this knowledge should be monopolised by a few countries but they should know that the world has changed, Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.

The top parliamentary official was reacting to a recent statement by US President Barack Obama where he threatened to launch a nuclear attack against Iran.

Obama, while announcing Washington’s new nuclear doctrine - Nuclear Posture Review - said all non-nuclear weapon states are immune from nuclear attack. But the doctrine reserved the right to use nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea.

Meanwhile, three top Iranian military commanders have also downplayed the veiled military threat against the country.

Ataollah Salehi, commander-in-chief of the army, said no country in the world is worried about the threats by the US and Israel.

“They make various threats against Iran due to their hegemonistic nature. However, they know their threats are hollow,” Salehi said.

The Iranian army is stronger than ever and no enemy has the capability to launch an assault against Iran, he was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.

While Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said Iran is capable of defending itself in all conditions and that Obama’s threatening language is “meaningless”, Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the army ground force commander, said the threats “only make some media outlets happy”.

Pourdastan said the US deployed troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with the goal of dominating the region but after many years it has now realised that military approach is not workable.

The US’ decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan is evident of its helplessness on the ground, he said.