President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran has said it is treason and betray of mankind to deny nations who need access to nuclear energy that right. “We think it is the right of all nations to use nuclear energy. No one has a right to deny any nation this right,” he said.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran has said it is treason and betray of mankind to deny nations who need access to nuclear energy that right. “We think it is the right of all nations to use nuclear energy. No one has a right to deny any nation this right,” he said. President Ahmadinejad who is on his maiden visit to Uganda hailed the relationship as that which promotes peace, justice and friendship and described her people as hardworking and decent, said they should work together and stand against fear of all kind of oppression and suppression of countries. “Iran and Ugandan both enjoy this purity and integrity and believe in world compassion and stand firm against oppression and aggression against any country that thinks only about their own interests. We are ready to do everything to invade other countries who undermine independence and sovereignty of all nations, plunder and loot resources of other nations and ignore human dignity anywhere and anytime. We shall stand firmly against all these atrocities,” he said.
President Ahmadinejad said the history of two nations is firm in the struggle against oppressors and colonialists in defending the rights of the people.
“Unfortunately today the era of military expeditions and actions is over. And the era of colonialism is also over. It has gone to archives of history. Today is the age of justice, age of respecting for human dignity, morality and spirituality and recognizing the right of all nations,” he said.
Referring to the controversy over his country’s nuclear programme, President Ahmadinejad used a comparison to drive home his point.
“I would like to have a short reference to the nuclear issue and energy. I want to offer a short comparison. For the generation of 1000 megawatts of electricity through fossil fuels in a one year period you need seven million barrels of crude oil. If we can sale that at the price of crude oil is eight dollars a barrel, for 1000 megawatts of electricity, we need 560 million dollars while nuclear power plant reduces this to 60 million dollars. In addition, fossil fuels pollutes environment severely and causes climate change as result if increased consumption of fossil fuels,” he said.
He added that regrettably a number of countries, have used this as a fear of creating nuclear bombs and by doing so have denied other nations the right to use cheap energy.
“They want to monopolize nuclear energy and weapons, by promoting matter of fighting against proliferation of nuclear weapons they actually want to prevent the spread of peaceful use of energy. The is treason and betray of mankind. We think it is the right of all nations to use nuclear energy. No one has a right to deny any nation this right. Those countries who seek to eliminate nuclear weapons should dismatle those countries that have hundred, if not tens of thousands of nuclear war heads in their arsenals must be priority. The main danger of the world is paused by those who have stockpiled and use these against other nations and continue to threaten other nations. The age of double standard policies and games is over. Today, we have the age of independent nations,” he said.
He said there was no limit for development of relations between countries,. No dark sport in history of the two nations.
“We will work together to review all areas of cooperation,” he said. President Yoweri Museveni said that Uganda is ready to cooperate with Iran in all fields adding that the two countries can compliment each other in development and trade.
“Iran belongs to the Gulf and Central Asia region. We are right in the heart of the huge African Continent. It is five and a half hours from Alexandria in Egypt and five and a half hours to Cape Town in South Africa. We can compliment each other in development and trade,” he said.
The President was speaking at a state banquet he hosted in honour of the visiting President of the Islamic republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is in Uganda on a two day state visit at the invitation of President Museveni.
He said it is the right of all countries in the world to access nuclear technology for peaceful purposes such as the generation of electricity, medical uses, etc.
“Uganda’s electricity potential on the Nile River and its tributaries is about 5,000 megawatts. We may get some power from our newly discovered petroleum and gas. All this, however, cannot satisfy our energy needs. Where will the rest of our energy needs come from? All the African Rivers have a potential of about 300,000 megawatts (with installed capacity of just 21,000 megawatts). This is for the present population of one billion people of Africa, soon to reach 1.3 billion people by 2025. The USA, with only 316 million people currently uses 1,067,010 megawatts. Possibly, there is wastage in USA’s usage of electricity. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the electricity required is great. What energy source will provide this magnitude of electricity for Africa? Solar, wind, etc., sources of energy are still very expensive per kilowatt hour. Therefore, the use of nuclear energy for electricity is a right for all countries. All countries of the World should cooperate in this. It is also good for the environment,” he said.
Museveni said Uganda’s position is that nuclear weapons are dangerous for humanity – even more dangerous than all the other previous weapon systems. We should, therefore, work for a nuclear weapons-free world.
“”This means that those who have these weapons should work to get rid of them under an internationally agreed and verifiable Treaty and that those who do not possess them should not seek to acquire them. Those weapons were developed at the height of imperialist madness, greed, egocentrism and criminality when some groups were trying to consolidate World domination and colonialism and new imperialist aspirants, such as Germany and Japan, were seeking to re-divide the colonial possessions in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, etc. Here, we salute the people of the Soviet Union who bore the brunt of this imperialist madness and contributed decisively to the defeat of the NAZI regime in Germany,” he said
He said proliferation, is moving in the wrong direction because action always breeds reaction. “This possible chain-reaction that takes us away from the ideal of a nuclear weapons-free world should be avoided by all peace-loving people. The possession of these means of mass destruction and murder is the greatest cause for the proliferation of nuclear weapons. I salute those who possess nuclear weapons but have started talking of a nuclear weapons-free World,” he said.
On the issue of the Middle East, the President said Uganda supports the two States solution i.e. Israel and Palestine “living side by side, within internationally recognized and secure borders” as agreed to by the relevant UN Security Council resolution.
According to the Bible, there were seven tribes of Canaan (present day Israel and Palestine). These were: Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, Perizzites and Jebusites. Then, Ibrahim, the Jew, came from Ur in present day Iraq and also started living in the same area.
“The Middle Eastern tribes could learn a little bit from the African tribes. Our philosophy is to live and let live. I, for instance, do not eat fish, pigs, mutton, chicken, etc., on account of my indigenous customs. However, I am the greatest promoter of these foods for the other Ugandans that like them. When I was in Iran, I told you about the reference to the ‘Persians and Medians’ in the Bible. I now give you the exact portions of the Bible where they are referred to. It is in the books of Esther (1:14), Daniel (6:12) and Exodus (chapters 13 and 23). To provide you with a permanent reference, I present to you a copy of the Bible,” he said.
