Iran not seeking a nuclear weapon: Supreme Leader

DUBAI (REUTERS) - Iran does not want nuclear weapons but if it did, no world power could prevent it from obtaining one, Iran's Supreme Leader said on Saturday, according to Iranian media.

The United States and some of its Western allies suspect Iran may be trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability under the guise of a civilian atomic energy programme, a charge Iran rejects.

Iranian officials have said in the past that a religious decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banning nuclear weapons is binding on the Islamic Republic, and MR Khamenei has repeatedly said Iran is not seeking an atomic bomb.

"We believe nuclear arms must be eliminated and we don't want to build nuclear arms," he said on Saturday morning, in comments published by the Iranian Students' News Agency.