New York - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday three Western powers made a "big mistake" by accusing his government of inconsistency in building a second nuclear, previously unknown plant for uranium enrichment. Ahmadinejad said Iran had complied with all international regulation.
"It's really sad for three heads of state to say something without foundation," he said. "We are completely within IAEA rules and its supervision."
Leaders of the United States, Britain and France had reacted harshly to Iran's late admission earlier Friday, with US President Barack Obama saying that the layout of the new plant that has been built for several years and was "inconsistent" with use in a civilian nuclear power programme.
"I don't think Obama is a nuclear expert," Ahmadinejad said.
He told reporters in New York that he was surprised by the reaction because Iran had gone beyond its obligations by informing the International Atomic Energy Agency of the plant.
He said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed a year ago of the construction of the plant at Qom, a move that was not required under IAEA regulation. Ahmadinejad said Iran is required only to inform the UN nuclear watchdog six months before uranium enrichment was to begin. He did not say whether uranium enrichment had begun at the plant.
"It's nothing new," Ahmadinejad told a news conference at a Manhattan hotel. "I am surprised that a group of heads of state met to talk about it."
"They think they have a winning card here," he said. "What's their business to tell Iran what to do? It seems what they have done was a big mistake."
Ahmadinejad criticized Obama for taking a "different position" from his policy to improve the US image around the world and dismissed the opinions of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "Misters Sarkozy and Brown not important to us."
Ahmadinejad said it will be up to the IAEA to schedule an inspection at the new plant.
He said his government has made a final proposal to solve the dispute over Iran's nuclear programmes and Iranian negotiators are ready to meet with the five permanent members of the Security Council, France Britain, the United States, Russia and China, plus Germany on October 1 in Geneva for discussion.
