[15/March/2010]

TEHRAN, March 15 (Saba) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected Monday the allegations that Iran has been following the nuclear weaponry program in late 1980s by the help of Pakistan, the official IRNA news agency reported, according to Xinhua.

Referring to western media reports concerning Iran's earlier attempts to avail nuclear weapons by the help of Pakistan, Mehmanparast told IRNA that "Such reports show the United States and the West's failure in an attempt to put pressure on Iran (over its nuclear program)," the report said.

"The United States is trying to deprive Iranians from their peaceful nuclear rights which has been acknowledged by the global community," Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.

The Washington Post quoted renowned Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan as saying, in the documents obtained by the daily, that Pakistan gave Iran bomb-related drawings, parts for centrifuges to purify uranium and a secret worldwide list of suppliers.

Pakistan on Monday rejected the report. Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said "It is yet another repackaging of fiction."

Saba