Supreme leader denies Iran seeking nuclear weapons

TEHRAN, Iran - From the deck of Iran's new guided-missile destroyer, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied Friday that Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons and criticized the U.S. military presence in the Gulf.

His comments came as international concern rose over Tehran's nuclear ambitions a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency said it may currently be working on making a nuclear warhead, suggesting for the first time that the Islamic Republic had either resumed such work or never stopped at the time U.S. intelligence thought.

Russia, which has been on the fence about whether to impose new UN sanctions against Iran, said it was "very alarmed" over Tehran's failure to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.

Khamenei, who has the final say on state matters, said Iran was not developing nuclear weapons because Islam forbids weapons of mass destruction.

"Because of this reason, we don't have any belief in the atomic bomb and don't pursue it," he said after taking a tour of the destroyer Jamaran, launched Friday at a Gulf port. State television said the warship was the country's first domestically built destroyer and a technological leap for Iran's naval industries.

Khamenei, commander in chief of Iran's armed forces, said Washington was trying to frighten Iran's Arab neighbors into buying U.S. weapons. He also said America and Israel were trying to sow divisions between Iran and Arab nations. - AP