From the deck of Iran's new guided-missile destroyer, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denied that Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons and criticised the
US 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 (IAEA) 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 US intelligence thought it did.
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 all state matters, said his country was not developing nuclear weapons because Islam forbids weapons of mass destruction.
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"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, which was launched on Friday at a Gulf port.
State television, which broadcast the event, said the warship was the country's first domestically built destroyer and a major technological leap for Iran's naval industries.
US 'trying to divide Islamic nations': Khamenei
Khamenei, who also is the commander in chief of Iran's armed forces, said Washington was trying to frighten Iran's Arab neighbours into buying US weapons. He also said America and Israel were trying to sow divisions between Iran and Arab nations.
"The US and the Zionist regime are trying to spread divisions to distract the attention of Islamic nations from the main enemies of the Islamic world, which are the US and Israel," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
Iran is weathering three sets of Security Council sanctions meant to punish its refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment program. It's recent rejection of a plan meant to strip it of most
of its enriched stockpile plus its belated acknowledgment that it had been secretly building a new enrichment facility has increased sentiment for a fourth set.
Russia undecided on sanctions
The US, Britain and France support such a measure, with Russia undecided and fellow permanent Security Council member China - which depends on Iran for much of its energy needs - opposed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed concern, saying "we are very alarmed, and we cannot accept that Iran is refusing to cooperate" with the IAEA.
His deputy later suggested Russia was against crippling sanctions.
"We find the term 'paralysing sanctions' completely unacceptable. Sanctions should follow the aim of strengthening the regime of nuclear nonproliferation," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Iran maintains its nuclear work is only for peaceful purposes like energy generation.
Khamenei, wearing clerical robes and a turban and walking with a cane as he inspected the ship, said the presence of foreign forces in the Persian Gulf "disturbs security" in the region but Washington will fail to achieve its goals.
US military officials said last month that Washington was deploying upgraded Patriot missiles in Arab nations in the region and more US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf capable of destroying missiles in flight.
Iran has declared many such advances in its military industries and sciences to demonstrate self-sufficiency despite sanctions and attempts by the US and its allies to isolate the country over its nuclear program.
