BALI, Indonesia, 14 May 2006 — Iran’s president told the world yesterday there was no reason to “be nervous” about the country’s nuclear program, as he won support from fellow Muslim leaders for his uranium enrichment program.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he had cooperated fully with the UN nuclear agency and was willing to hold talks about the international standoff with anyone except long-time foe Israel and countries who hold “bombs over our heads.”
He made the comments after closed-door talks with the leaders of Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey and Malaysia and ministers from Egypt and Bangladesh, which focused largely on economic and political cooperation.
Delegates of the Developing Eight summit said after the meeting that they supported the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes — giving Iran’s leader a much-needed boost.
Though the nuclear issue was not on the D-8’s agenda, Ahmadinejad lobbied for support from the leaders on the sidelines.
Ahmadinejad was clearly among friends. “Our people need to do more to help one another,” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, adding that among other things “proud” Islamic nations should work together to develop renewable and alternative energy sources.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar held a hastily arranged meeting with the Iranian leader in the middle of the summit, telling reporters afterward he supported a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff.
Opening the summit, Yudhoyono said: “We must be able to embrace modernity by becoming forward-looking, by becoming knowledge-driven, by advancing a culture of excellence.”
The president said the D-8 nations wanted to achieve progress “through peace not war, dialogue not confrontation, cooperation not exploitation, justice not double standard, equality not discrimination, democracy not oppression.”
Ahmadinejad, handing over the grouping’s chairmanship to Yudhoyono, urged D-8 member states to work together for the welfare of the Islamic world and the entire world community.
