Real power is in national will, not nuclear weapons: Ayatollah Khamenei

 

Mugabe and Ayatollah Khamenei

Via Press TV

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the real power of a country lies in the reinforcement of the national resolve and progress in scientific and social spheres, rejecting nuclear arms as a component of a nation’s power.

“We consider real power in strengthening the national will and socio-scientific advances, not in atomic weapons,” Ayatollah Khamenei said Thursday in a meeting with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe who is in Tehran to participate in the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Ayatollah Khamenei called on all NAM member states to adopt practical measures through collective cooperation.

Mugabe, for his part, denounced Western countries’ “big lies about defending human rights, law and democracy,” adding that “The record of the US, England and France and their double-standard behaviors towards the developments in the Middle East show that Westerners are merely after oil resources.

The Zimbabwean president said the approach of the West to Syria is indicative of a tenuous and fragile plot to undermine the Islamic Republic.

He also denounced as “ridiculous” the Western powers’ allegations that Iran is seeking to acquire military nuclear capability.

NAM, an international organization with 120 member states, is considered as not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It represents nearly two-thirds of the UN members.

At the opening ceremony of the NAM expert-level meeting, Iran assumed the rotating presidency of the movement for three years. Egypt's Ambassador to the United Nations Mootaz Khalil formally handed over the presidency to Iran.