Iran leader says nuclear bomb would be un-Islamic
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Iranian President Mohammad Khatami at the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva, Switzerland.
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GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Iran's President Mohammad Khatami said Thursday that creation of nuclear weapons by his country, which has agreed to snap inspections by U.N. nuclear inspectors, would violate the Islamic faith.
The reformist leader, pressured by hard-liners at home, also said his government was trying to protect people from violations of human rights.
"I have argued that as Muslims, our religious faith should not allow us to seek nuclear weapons," he said. "The Islam I know does not have a use for them."
He was speaking at the World Council of Churches, an ecumenical body, a day after his administration said it would sign a more stringent international inspection accord.
That came after months of pressure from Western powers and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, which said last month Iran had for 18 years covered up sensitive nuclear research.
Khatami, in Geneva also for a U.N. information summit, said Islam proscribed harming of non-combatant civilians in war, but that would be inevitable in a nuclear conflict.
The president, who steps down in 2005 after two four-year terms, said Iran had many things to learn from the West.
"An example is democracy ... like here in Switzerland," he said. "The only alternative to democracy is dictatorship and tyrannical rule."
Khatami, answering questions from an audience of diplomats and Swiss religious leaders, said Iran itself had a democratic system but it accepted the need for criticism.
"Certainly we have problems, including violations of human rights. We know it ourselves, that there are bad things going on. But in Iran the executive branch wants to protect the rights of the people," he added.
Later he told a news conference he looked forward to the day when nobody would be detained in Iran for political or journalistic activities.
"And if they are detained, they should be given a fair trial," he said, adding that many of the students detained after pro-democracy demonstrations in the summer had been released.
On al Qaeda prisoners held by Iran and who the United States wants handed over, Khatami said Iran would continue to try those charged with crimes and to expel the others to their homelands.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
