BERLIN (IRNA) -- The world supports Iran’s right to enrich uranium, Noam Chomsky said in an exclusive telephone interview with IRNA in Berlin on Saturday.

Chomsky lashed out at Western media reports saying Tehran was “defying the world” with its nuclear program.
“That’s a funny definition of the ‘world’. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), for example, which is the majority of countries, endorses Iran’s right to enrich uranium,” Chomsky observed.
“Now nobody thinks they have the right to develop nuclear weapons. However, that’s a different issue. But the majority of the (American) population agrees (on Iran’s right to enrich uranium),” he added.
Iran has repeatedly announced that the production or acquisition of nuclear weapons would be a violation of the Islamic teachings and laws it adheres to.
The distinguished 80-year-old professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said, “Public opinion here overwhelmingly holds that Iran should have the right to develop nuclear energy.”
Chomsky reaffirmed also that Iran was “of course entitled to uranium enrichment as a member of the NPT.”
The U.S. scholar made clear that most Americans reject the Iran policy of President George W. Bush.
“With regard to Iran, a substantial segment of pretty mainstream opinion has been harshly critical of the confrontational approach and has called for negotiations and diplomacy,” Chomsky noted.
He added that there could have been a U.S.-Iran “rapprochement for the last 10 years.”
“It did not happen because the extremism of the Bush administration was simply directed at making relations harsher, more bitter, militarizing them, and that’s why the Bush administration even antagonized allies,” Chomsky explained.
Asked whether the U.S.-Iran estrangement would eventually end, he pointed to the possibility of a “working relationship” between the two countries.
Chomsky emphasized that a working relationship between the U.S. and Iran could “improve the overall situation” in the Middle East.
“There is a strong establishment pressure… moving towards a diplomatic and developmental approach rather than a military approach.
“The American popular opinion is strongly in support of it,” Chomsky added.
He emphasized Washington’s hostile stance toward Tehran stems from Iran’s refusal “to subordinate itself to the U.S. will.”
“Iran is an independent actor. It is defiant of the U.S. and that’s not tolerated,” Chomsky stated.
“In fact, that’s official policy going back to War II, in which the U.S. would try to create a world order in which it is dominant. No exercise of sovereignty should be tolerated, if it intervenes with U.S. efforts to construct a certain kind of world order,” he added.
The American professor said the U.S. government views Iran as an “impediment” to its energy interests in the Middle East.
“Nobody is seriously concerned about Iranian aggression. There has been no sign of any. But they are upset about Iran’s influence in the region. Also, in the background is the concern that Iran might turn East. That’s not discussed very much, but that’s certainly a policy concern,” the U.S. political dissident added.
Chomsky’s political activism dates back to the Vietnam War, when he established himself as a prominent critic of U.S. foreign and domestic policy.