TEHRAN (FNA)- Mairead Maguire, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work in Northern Ireland, defended Iran's right of access to peaceful nuclear technology, and called for international inspection of Israel's atomic arsenals.


"Iran is entitled to have nuclear energy and power since it is a progressing nation and needs more energy," Maguire told FNA on Tuesday.

She also appreciated the fatwa (religious decree) issued by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei against the production and use of the nuclear weapons, and threw her weight behind the talks underway between Iran and the world powers to settle their dispute on Tehran's nuclear program.

Maguire described the western sanctions against Iran, specially those imposed on the medical sector, as cruel, and said, "I know that the sanctions have had big effects on people in Iran and I hope that the sanctions will be removed against Iran and the Syrian people since they are punishing the ordinary citizens."

Asked about Israel's stockpile of nuclear weapons, she said, "I know some communities that have worked for many years to make Israel dismantle its nuclear weapons and open Dimona (nuclear reactor which is widely assumed to be building nuclear weapons)."

"I have seen there and I have protested outside it, urging that Israel's nuclear installations should open to inspection," Maguire said.

Maguire (born 27 January 1944) is a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She co-founded, with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, the Women for Peace, which later became the Community for Peace People, an organization dedicated to encouraging a peaceful resolution of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Maguire and Williams were awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. Maguire has also won several other awards.

In recent years, she has criticized the Israeli government's policy towards Gaza, in particular to the naval blockade. In June 2010, Maguire went on board the MV Rachel Corrie as part of a flotilla that unsuccessfully attempted to breach the blockade but was attacked by the Israeli forces and a number of peace activists onboard were killed.

By Fars News Agency

 

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