Iranian top leaders said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic had no nuclear bombs and would not produce it, but vowed to press on the disputed nuclear program.

 

In a meeting with the commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told them "Iranian nation does not have atomic bomb and has no intention to gain access to such a weapon either."

 

"Dignity of the Iranian nation emanates from belief in religious commands and good deeds and clarified prospects," he added.

 

This is not Khamenei's first time to make such kind of statements. In the past years when Iran's relations with the West escalated due to the nuclear issue, the leaders reiterated it.

 

Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that the nuclear program of his country would not be negotiable with anyone, according to a report by the official IRNA news agency.

 

"Iranian nation is logical and could have dialogue with, however, they will not negotiate about its rights with anyone," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

 

"One or two countries in the world do not recognize the reality and they believe they could force Iran to retreat, but enemies of these countries must understand Iran would never back off," he added.

 

The US and some other Western countries have accused Iran of developing atomic weapons under a civilian cover, but Iran denied the allegations, saying it just wants to generate electricity.

 

Since last December, the UN Security Council has issued two sanction resolutions against Tehran's nuclear program, demanding it to halt the sensitive uranium enrichment work. However, Iran didn't comply with the requests.

 

The president also mentioned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which praised Iran over the cooperation between the two sides in the past months, saying it shows that European nations have a more positive approach to the situation than certain other countries, which clearly referred to the US and Britain.

 

Since this July, Iran has showed its willingness for more cooperation with the agency, allowing nuclear inspectors to visit its sensitive Arak heavy water nuclear reactor.

 

In an IAEA report in August, the UN atomic watchdog applauded the progress with Tehran and the report was considered a brake on the US push for new sanctions in the Security Council.

 

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Tehran would continue the cooperation with IAEA, but warned that it "would reconsider the cooperation if another (Security Council) resolution was issued against Iran."

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2007)