TEHRAN, February 3 (RIA Novosti) - The Iranian president accused the West of "apartheid in science" Friday and reiterated Tehran's determination to pursue its nuclear ambitions.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference that the nuclear few were trying to impose their monopoly on peaceful nuclear energy upon the rest of the world.
He said Tehran would not yield to international pressure to relinquish its legitimate right to produce its own nuclear power.
Ahmadinejad also accused the West of double standards. He said the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, was continuing to insist that Iran abandon its pursuit of nuclear power while simultaneously turning a blind eye to Israel's weapons programs.
On Thursday, Ahmadinejad cast doubt on the reliability of nuclear fuel supplies from Russia if Tehran agreed to accept Russia's offer to enrich uranium on its territory.
The offer, welcomed by the European Union and the United States as a possible way out of the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program, was discussed last week in Moscow by Russian officials and Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Javad Vaeidi. At that time, he said the proposal needed more work.
During an emergency session of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna Friday, Vaeidi said that if the agency's 35-nation board referred the Iranian nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council, "there will be no way we can continue with the Russian proposal."
