Tehran, June 03: Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has said since no dictatorship was practised in Iran, contrary to Iraq under Saddam Hussein's rule, “there is no concern over being the next US military target”
“It is rather ruled by a democratic system, where international laws are not disregarded. That's why there is no concern over (Iran) being the next US military target”, Kharrazi said.
Referring to the policy followed in bilateral talks between the officials of both nations, he said, “we believe that Americans are not yet prepared to hold dialogue with us, given that such communication should mainly be based on mutual respect”. “The US does not wish Iran to have access to non-military nuclear technology. However, we are entitled to it as far as all laws and regulations are complied with”, Kharrazi said.
To a query if Iran still considered the US as the great Satan, Kharrazi said, “Under the present conditions, the Americans have listed Iran as the `axis of evil' and we refer to them as `the great Satan'.

Declaring Iran's wish for annihilation of all weapons of mass destruction in the middle east region, Kharrazi said, “We call for a safe region, rather than a nuclear weapons race”.

“No matter how happy we might be with Saddam's downfall, we should not forget that the decree for anti-Iraq deterrent assault was not issued by the UN social security”, he said.

“Given that the coalition forces launched the war on their own initiative, they have to leave the country as intruders having no right to stay there”, Kharrazi said.

Bureau Report