Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday lashed out at elements inside Iran who he said were disclosing nuclear secrets to foreigners and wanted to see the country punished with tough UN sanctions.
“There has been a person who passed information to the foreigners and encouraged them to issue tougher resolutions” against Iran, Ahmadinejad told a gathering of Islamist students, according to the ISNA news agency. “He is a member of an official organisation that is now insulting the government in their newspapers.” Ahmadinejad, whose culture minister has already denounced a “creeping coup” in the press,| Believe me, we're familiar with the feeling... |
did not name the individual or the critical newspapers. He said this person “had regular meetings with foreigners and even informed them on disagreements (inside Iran) and objected that the adopted resolutions were weak.” Ahmadinejad also criticised another unnamed person who he said “travels to Persian Gulf countries and calls on them not to cooperate with the current government”. He did not give further details. The UN Security Council has imposed two sets of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear work, which the West fears could be diverted towards weapons development. Moderates inside Iran have attacked Ahmadinejad for his handling of Iran’s nuclear programme while the reformist press frequently publishes opinion articles critical of his rule. |