I'm sure. And Sadam said he wanted to "liberate" Kuwait.
It's not really what they SAID that matters. It's what they're capable of doing with the technology once they master it. Just having the potential to build an A-bomb is a powerful bargaining chip on it's own. Not to mention the official stand-point of Teheran for 18 years was that they don't research nuclear energy to bulild nuclear weapons, only to be proven wrong 3 years ago, when initial plans for a bomb were found.
I mean what did you expect them to say? "Yes we will of course build an atomic bomb and drop it on Tel Aviv" *accompany that with an evil laugh*