AFP
Monday, November 27, 2006

Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief General Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Monday the West should accept Tehran as a nuclear power in the Middle East, the Fars news agency reported.
"Superpowers have reached the conclusion that a powerful Iran is an unbeatable country in the region, and they must accept Iran as a regional power with peaceful nuclear energy," Rahim Safavi was quoted as saying in a speech to the Islamic volunteer Basij militia.

"They should get along with Iran and establish positive interaction," he added.

Rahim Safavi also accused Europe, Israel, the United States and some Arab nations which he did not name of ganging up against the Islamic republic.

"What connects the Americans to these countries is a joint objective to prevent Iran from becoming the first-rate power in the region in economic, intellectual, military and political aspects," he said.

The major powers have been debating a draft UN resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany that would impose limited sanctions on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile sectors over Tehran's failure to comply with an earlier UN resolution on halting uranium enrichment.

The US seeks to impose tough sanctions but faces opposition from two permanent Security Council members, China and Russia, which have major trade and energy ties with Iran.

The West claims Iran is running a secret nuclear military program parallel to its civilian one, an allegation vehemently denied by Tehran which says its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful and aimed at producing electricity.