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Hardline protesters vow to defend Iran nuke plants
Asset rich target coming upHundreds of hardline Islamic protesters gathered at two Iranian nuclear plants on Wednesday, vowing to defend with their lives Iranâs right to develop nuclear technology, the official IRNA news agency reported. The protests coincided with tense negotiations in Vienna over the wording of a draft resolution which sharply rebukes Iran for poor cooperation with the U.N.âs nuclear watchdog. Washington and many European states fear Iran may be secretly building a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran strongly denies this and says its atomic ambitions are limited to producing electricity from nuclear power reactors. Some 400 demonstrators assembled in front of the Bushehr atomic reactor being built in southern Iran and called on the government to resist the "unfair" demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), IRNA said. The protesters, including many members of the hardline Islamic volunteer militia known as Basij, said the draft resolution was an insult to the countryâs independence. "We are ready to sacrifice our lives to defend our rights and independence," IRNA quoted Kamal Shanbodi, head of the Basij in Bushehr, as saying. Another 500 people gathered in the central city of Arak, where Iran is developing a heavy water reactor. The protesters carried placards calling for a review of Iranâs relations with France, Germany and Britain -- the three countries behind the draft IAEA resolution, IRNA said. "Nuclear technology is our absolute right. Death to America, Britain, Germany and France." they chanted, according to IRNA. Posted by: tipper 2004-06-16 |
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