Iranian President Claims Islamic Republic Has Already Achieved Nuclear Capability

Iran has already crossed the nuclear threshold, according to claims by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While on an official visit to Egypt, Ahmadinejad told local reporters that the Islamic Republic has the technology and materials necessary to create a nuclear weapon.

Iran is “already a nuclear state,” Ahmadinejad told the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. He says that the world must now refer to Iran as an atomic power. He insisted that all of Iran’s nuclear capabilities are defensive and they have no desire to seek an armed confrontation with the state of Israel.

This week, Ahmadinejad be first Iranian president in 34 years to visit Egypt. Bilateral relations between the two nations have been cold since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but those relations have thawed since the Arab Spring and the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

h/t Jerusalem Post

> >Follow Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!