Iran President: Era of Nuclear Weapons Over

Ahmadinejad calls for worldwide nuclear disarmament

In an interview with Russian channel NTV, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for a worldwide nuclear disarmament, declaring that the era of nuclear weapons is over.

“Today, no one can use a nuclear weapon and we believe that the US is taking a wrong move by stockpiling nuclear weapons,” Ahmadinejad noted, likely referring to President Obama’s call for an additional $5 billion in funding for America’s nuclear weapons program.

Ahmadinejad pointed out that despite America’s enormous nuclear arsenal, they have been unable to achieve victory in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Iranian president also labeled nuclear weapons as “inhumane” and said that the nations calling for disarmament should dismantle their own arsenals to prove their sincerity in the move.

Iran’s own civilian nuclear program has been subject to intense criticism, with Western officials claiming it is part of a covert plan to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran has insisted it has no designs on such weapons, and the IAEA has repeatedly certified that it is not diverting any of its civilian nuclear material to any non-civilian purpose.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.