Iran’s atomic chief quits after more than 10 years at helm of nuclear program

Ahmadinejad threatens to strike Iran’s enemies ‘in the face’

Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, Iran’s atomic chief who has spearheaded the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program for more than a decade, has resigned, the ISNA news agency said Thursday. It said that Aghazadeh had also quit as the country’s vice president, adding that almost three weeks ago he submitted to President Mahmoud Ahma­dinejad his resignation letter, which was accepted.

The report gave no reasons for the resignation, which comes a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton renewed a limited US offer to hold a dialogue with Tehran over the nuclear standoff.

The atomic chief’s resignation comes ahead of sweeping changes expected in Ahmadinejad’s next government which will be unveiled next month.

The hardline president vowed last month to change the structure of the new government by making “considerable changes” to his Cabinet. Aghazadeh is a veteran official of the Islamic Republic and was executive deputy to Mir Hossein Mousavi during his premiership in the 1980s.

Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s closest rival in presidential polls last month but who lost heavily to the incumbent, has charged that the vote was rigged.

Aghazadeh was also oil minister from 1985 to 1997 after which he was appointed chief of the atomic organization under reformist president Mohammad Khatami. He continued to serve in the same capacity under Ahmadi­ne­jad and has been deeply in­volved in Iran’s nuclear program.

Global powers led by Washington suspect Tehran’s nuclear drive is aimed at making atomic weapons, a charge strongly denied by the Islamic Republic and on several occasions by Aghazadeh himself.

Aghazadeh has supervised the nuclear program which Iran says has developed technology able to master the complete nuclear fuel cycle.

At the heart of Iran’s nuclear controversy lies its defiant continuation of enriching uranium. Highly enriched uranium can be used to make atomic weapons while low enriched uranium is used in nuclear power plants.

Clinton renewed Wednesday a US offer to engage Iran in talks aimed at resolving the nuc­lear crisi, repeating earlier calls to “lead with diplomacy, even in the cases of adversaries or na­tions with whom we disagree.”

Clinton said that neither she nor Obama held “any illusions” that direct talks with Iran “will guarantee success.”

Premier Gordon Brown said Thursday that the world was at a “critical and de­fining moment” on nuclear wea­pons as Britain released a report underlining its willingness to cut arms before talks in 2010.

The report comes ahead of next year’s review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to limit the spread of nuclear weapons around the world, and after the US and Russia agreed to a landmark cut of their arsenals this month.

“This is a critical and defining moment where Russia and America are saying they are prepared to reduce their nuc­lear weapons,” Brown said.

“There is growing momentum across the globe to tackle these strategic challenges.” He reiterated that Britain was willing to reduce its nuclear arms as part of multilateral talks but accepted that this could be a long way off as he faced questions from a committee of lawmakers in the House of Commons.

“The long term aim of all the countries is on a multilateral basis that nuclear weapons would no longer be necessary, but that is a distant goal as we stand at the moment,” he said.

“As soon as it becomes useful for our arsenal to be included in a broader negotiation, Britain stands ready to act.” Britain has the fifth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, according to experts.

Brown added that all states, including Iran and North Korea, which have repeatedly defied the international community on the issue, should be allowed to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes as long as they “reject the development of nuclear weapons.”

Ahmadi­nejad launched a fierce attack on the West on Thursday, saying Iran’s enemies had tried to interfere and foment aggression in its disputed presidential vote last month.

“In this recent election the enemy tried to bring the battlefront to the interior of this country,” he told a big crowd in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

“But I have told the enemies … that this nation … will strike you in the face so hard you will lose your way home,” he said in comments translated by English-language Press TV.

He also voiced continued defiance in a row over Iran’s disputed nuclear ambitions, saying major powers “will not be able to take the away smallest amount of Iran’s rights.”