President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday that Iran would "resist to the end" on its nuclear program, after sparking fresh Western concern by revealing plans to massively ramp up sensitive atomic work.
"The Iranian people will resist to the end to defend their nuclear right," Ahmadinejad told thousands of supporters in a speech in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran's Kurdestan Province, broadcast live on state television.
"Thanks to God, time is on Iran's side and with every passing day they [the great powers] are having to take a step backwards and recognize Iran's right while the Iranian people take a step forward to the summit of technology."
Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said Iran was ultimately aiming to install 60,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium to make nuclear fuel on an industrial scale, which the US said would be enough to make a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has every right to the full nuclear fuel cycle, rejecting US accusations that its civilian energy drive masks a program to make a nuclear bomb.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described those remarks -- to a news conference on Tuesday -- as a "cold jolt" adding that "what that leads to is an Iranian nuclear weapon."
The latest report by the UN nuclear watchdog on Tuesday said Iran must clear up ambiguities as "a prerequisite for the agency to be able to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source