{"id":27763,"date":"2013-02-12T17:42:01","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T16:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/headline\/2013\/02\/12-3"},"modified":"2013-02-12T17:42:01","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T16:42:01","slug":"iran-all-nuclear-weapons-must-be-destroyed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/iran-all-nuclear-weapons-must-be-destroyed\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: All Nuclear Weapons Must Be Destroyed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Following <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&#038;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fheadline%2F2013%2F02%2F12\" >news<\/a> of a successful North Korean nuclear weapons test on Tuesday, officials from Iran <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&#038;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2Fasia-pacific%2F2013%2F02%2F201321285324395905.html\" >called<\/a> for the end to all atomic weapons around the world.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-right c11\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/commondreams.org\/files\/imagecache\/headline_image\/article_images\/iranian-workers-in-front--010_0.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" class=\"imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default\" width=\"275\" height=\"165\" \/><span class=\"caption\">Iranian workers in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. (Stringer\/Iran\/Reuters)<\/span><\/span> &#8220;We need to come to the point where no country has any nuclear weapons and at the same time all weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arms need to be destroyed,&#8221; foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&#038;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2Fasia-pacific%2F2013%2F02%2F201321285324395905.html\" >told<\/a> state news agency IRNA.<\/p>\n<p>Mehmanparast also <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&#038;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Ffeb%2F12%2Firan-nuclear-tensions-uranium-conversion\" >said<\/a> that much of Iran&#8217;s higher-grade enriched uranium is once again being converted into reactor fuel to be used for energy production.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has been hit by a series of U.S. lead sanctions and continual threats of war from Israel over claims that its nuclear energy program is being used to develop nuclear weapons, despite a consistent lack of viable evidence. The U.S. and Israel, on the other hand, both have substantial nuclear weapons stockpiles\u2013the U.S. with the greatest arsenal in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Monday that Tehran is moving closer to the &#8220;red line&#8221; of nuclear weapon capability.<\/p>\n<p>In his comments, Mehmanparast <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&#038;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalpost.com%2Fdispatch%2Fnews%2Fafp%2F130212%2Firan-scorns-israels-nuclear-red-line-laughing-matter\" >emphasized<\/a> that these persistent accusations are a &#8220;laughing matter&#8221; coming from a country that has &#8220;illegally stockpiled nuclear warheads.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They threaten to use these nuclear warheads against other countries,&#8221; he said, adding that Israel was the &#8220;biggest obstacle&#8221; to the creation of a nuclear-free Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Mehmanparast added that Iran is ready to allow IAEA nuclear inspectors to visit their Parchin military site to check for nuclear weapons, as long as world powers recognize Tehran&#8217;s right to enrich uranium for fuel.<\/p>\n<p>Iran will be meeting with the P5+1 group (the US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) in international nuclear talks on February 26 in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pixel.quantserve.com\/pixel\/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Following <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fheadline%2F2013%2F02%2F12\" target=\"_blank\">news<\/a> of a successful North Korean nuclear weapons test on Tuesday, officials from Iran <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2Fasia-pacific%2F2013%2F02%2F201321285324395905.html\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> for the end to all atomic weapons around the world.<\/p>\n<p><span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/commondreams.org\/files\/imagecache\/headline_image\/article_images\/iranian-workers-in-front--010_0.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"165\"\/><span>Iranian workers in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. (Stringer\/Iran\/Reuters)<\/span><\/span> &#8220;We need to come to the point where no country has any nuclear weapons and at the same time all weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arms need to be destroyed,&#8221; foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2Fasia-pacific%2F2013%2F02%2F201321285324395905.html\" target=\"_blank\">told<\/a> state news agency IRNA.<\/p>\n<p>Mehmanparast also <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Ffeb%2F12%2Firan-nuclear-tensions-uranium-conversion\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> that much of Iran&#8217;s higher-grade enriched uranium is once again being converted into reactor fuel to be used for energy production.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has been hit by a series of U.S. lead sanctions and continual threats of war from Israel over claims that its nuclear energy program is being used to develop nuclear weapons, despite a consistent lack of viable evidence. The U.S. and Israel, on the other hand, both have substantial nuclear weapons stockpiles&mdash;the U.S. with the greatest arsenal in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Monday that Tehran is moving closer to the &#8220;red line&#8221; of nuclear weapon capability.<\/p>\n<p>In his comments, Mehmanparast <a href=\"http:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalpost.com%2Fdispatch%2Fnews%2Fafp%2F130212%2Firan-scorns-israels-nuclear-red-line-laughing-matter\" target=\"_blank\">emphasized<\/a> that these persistent accusations are a &#8220;laughing matter&#8221; coming from a country that has &#8220;illegally stockpiled nuclear warheads.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They threaten to use these nuclear warheads against other countries,&#8221; he said, adding that Israel was the &#8220;biggest obstacle&#8221; to the creation of a nuclear-free Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Mehmanparast added that Iran is ready to allow IAEA nuclear inspectors to visit their Parchin military site to check for nuclear weapons, as long as world powers recognize Tehran&#8217;s right to enrich uranium for fuel.<\/p>\n<p>Iran will be meeting with the P5+1 group (the US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) in international nuclear talks on February 26 in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pixel.quantserve.com\/pixel\/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}