Iran appeals for 'atomic criminal' US to be suspended from IAEA

Iran appealed yesterday for "atomic criminal" the US to be suspended from the UN nuclear watchdog at a disarmament conference it is hosting.

At the opening of the two-day meeting, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out any use of atomic weaponry as "haram", meaning religiously banned under Islam.

Iran also called for changes to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Iraq, Lebanon and Syria voiced support for Tehran's "peaceful" nuclear programme and demanded Israel join the NPT "without conditions".

Khamenei branded the US an "atomic criminal" in a message read out by an aide at the nuclear disarmament conference, Tehran's answer to a summit held in Washington earlier this week.

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went a step further and called for Washington's suspension from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) along with all other nations which possess nuclear arms. "Only the US government has committed an atomic crime," said the message of the all-powerful Khamenei who formulates Tehran's foreign policy, including its nuclear strategy.

"The world's only atomic criminal lies and presents itself as being against nuclear weapons proliferation, while it has not taken any serious measures in this regard," he said.