( CNN ) -- Iran 's supreme leader said Friday the Islamic republic is n't seeking and does n't believe in pursuing nuclear bombs . Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks a day after a draft report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Iran may be working secretly to develop a nuclear warhead for a missile . `` Iran will not get emotional in its response to these nonsensical statements , because we have often said that our religious tenets and beliefs consider these kinds of weapons of mass destruction to be symbols of genocide and are , therefore , forbidden and considered to be haram ( religiously banned ) , '' he said . `` This is why we do not believe in atomic bombs and weapons and do not seek them . '' The ayatollah 's remarks reflect the tensions between the West and Iran over its nuclear program . The United States and its allies fear that Iran aims to develop the capacity to build a nuclear bomb . Iran denies this , saying its nuclear program is designed solely to produce civilian energy and for medical use . The document is the first draft report by the International Atomic Energy Agency director general , Yukiya Amano , who replaced Mohamed ElBaradei late last year . It has not been approved by its board of governors , but the agency has expressed concerns over the years about Iran 's nuclear activities . The draft report lists ways in which the Islamic state is allegedly defying U.N. orders about its nuclear program . It said Iran had begun enriching uranium to a level that can sustain a nuclear reaction before IAEA inspectors arrived to monitor the process , and in defiance of a request not to do so . In Washington , Assistant Secretary of State P.J . Crowley said on Thursday the draft report is the first produced by the IAEA since the recent discovery of a secret nuclear facility at Qom . `` There is no explanation for that facility that is consistent with the needs of a civilian nuclear program , '' he said . `` And it characterizes the way in which Iran has conducted its ... relations with the IAEA and its failure to satisfactorily explain , you know , what its activities and ambitions are in the nuclear sphere . '' Crowley called the conclusions of the draft report `` consistent '' with arguments Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made this week in the Middle East . `` We have ongoing concerns about Iran 's activities , '' Crowley told reporters . `` We can not explain why it refuses to come to the table and engage constructively to answer the questions that have been raised , and you have to draw some conclusions from that . '' The draft report highlighted concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East , particularly between Iran and Israel . Israel has often been the object of rhetoric by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , who has said the Jewish state `` must be wiped off the map '' politically . The United States has assured Israel that its interests will be protected . Former IAEA weapons inspector David Albright told CNN Thursday that Iran 's behavior `` has to make you worry more about a [ potential ] conflict . '' Iran appears to be `` pushing '' for concessions from Western powers , he said . `` They 're pushing on things that make them look like they 're going for nuclear weapons , and that 's risky . If they go much further , they may bring an attack on themselves by Israel . Iran needs to be a little more careful about its actions . '' Michael Levi , a nuclear proliferation analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations , told CNN that , `` in a sense , we should be pleased by this . ... Having such a clear statement from an international body can only help develop a robust international response . '' On Tuesday , Ahmadinejad warned the United States and other nations not to impose tougher sanctions in reaction to Iran 's nuclear ambitions . He said recently that Iran will boost uranium enrichment to 20 percent . `` It 's high time for some people to open their eyes and adapt themselves to real changes that are under way , '' he told reporters in Tehran . The draft report became public on the same day that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gave a speech in Washington warning about the dangers of nuclear proliferation . `` The spread of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat facing the country -- and I would argue facing humanity -- and that is why we are working both to stop their proliferation and eventually to eliminate them , '' Biden said in remarks at National Defense University .
Iran 's Supreme leader says `` why we do not believe in atomic bombs and weapons and do not seek them '' IAEA draft report obtained Thursday says Iran may be working on nuclear warhead for a missile . Iran defying U.N. orders about its nuclear program , IAEA draft report says . Iran began boosting uranium enrichment before inspectors arrived , IAEA says .