April 19, 2006: Indonesia Shows Support for Iran's Nuclear Enrichment Programme
Website for the Istiqlal Mosque.

The following report on Iran's nuclear enrichment programme is based on items posted on the Masjid Istiqlal website on 13 and 18 April.

This article briefly covered the uproar over the Iranian enrichment programme. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad stated that the country's nuclear programme was a monumental success only made possible through the hard work and resistance of Iranians. The article went on to say that despite Iran being adamant it would continue with its programme, the West, namely the United States, continually attempted to disrupt it.

It also mentioned that nuclear technology had been accepted for a long time, reasoning that without nuclear power, Iran would not be able to reach economic growth targets. President Ahmadinejad also said that the country would adhere to the United Nations Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and would allow inspections to be carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The article also indicated that it had actually been countries wanting to defend their own nuclear programmes that had distributed misinformation about the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear bomb.

This article clearly highlighted Indonesia's support for Iran's nuclear programme. DPR Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid met with Ahmadinejad and congratulated Iran on its achievements. He emphasised that Iran had the right to develop nuclear technology and went on to say that, "Iran's developments represent progress for the Islamic community." Ahmadinejad said that countries such as the US were unhappy to see the Islamic community advance but that Iran would not be intimidated by their efforts to have the programme shut down.