Ahmadinejad condemns WMD

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BALI, Indonesia, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The use and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a blatant assault on international human rights laws, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad, speaking on the sidelines of a democracy forum in Indonesia, said proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly atomic warheads, was a violation of human rights, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.

Tehran this week signaled that it was ready to participate in a conference aimed at creating a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Ali Ashghar Soltaniyeh, the Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, called on "all countries" to mobilize themselves against the spread of weapons in the Middle East.

His comments followed an IAEA report stating that nuclear inspectors were unable to "conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."

The Iranian government is accused of pursuing technology needed to manufacture a nuclear weapon, an allegation Tehran denies.

Ahmadinejad added that military campaigns in the Middle East by Western powers were tantamount to the suppression of freedom and basic civil liberties.