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Ayatollah endorses Iran nuclear program

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Head of the State Expediency Council and Iran's former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani leads Weekly Friday Prayer at Tehran University campus in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2007. Rafsanjani called on the government to take the latest United States threats and sanctions seriously, state news agency IRNA reported. Pictures of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) and Iran's late supreme leader Rohollah Khomeini (L) are seen behind Rafsanjani. (UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah)
Head of the State Expediency Council and Iran's former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani leads Weekly Friday Prayer at Tehran University campus in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2007. Rafsanjani called on the government to take the latest United States threats and sanctions seriously, state news agency IRNA reported. Pictures of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) and Iran's late supreme leader Rohollah Khomeini (L) are seen behind Rafsanjani. (UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah) 
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Published: Feb. 29, 2008 at 9:45 AM

TEHRAN, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme ruler, reportedly has fully endorsed his country's nuclear program for the first time.

And he gave his full backing to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the issue.

"One example of an advance by the Islamic system has been the nuclear issue, in which the Iranian nation has honestly and seriously won a great victory," he said Friday.

He praised Ahmadinejad's role in advancing the nuclear issue as "outstanding."

. The ayatollah clearly celebrated the failure of the United States and the West and Israel to stall Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Debkafile.com reported.

"Those people who used to say Iran's nuclear activity must be dismantled are now saying we are ready to accept your advances, on condition that it will not continue indefinitely," Khamenei said. "This was achieved by perseverance."

Topics: Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
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