NEW DELHI, 25 March 2007 — Iran will never develop nuclear weapons and its program was meant for peaceful purposes and the controversy over it could be sorted out through dialogues, said former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
Khatami’s appeal on Friday in New Delhi, came 24 hours before the UN Security Council was set to slap new sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend all uranium enrichment activity.
“Iran will never go for nuclear weapons,” Khatami told a media conference in the city. “Weapons of mass destruction have never been our objective,” he said.
Iran was always ready to give an “objective guarantee” on its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and the issue should be solved “through negotiations,” he added. The “sensitive” region, which is already facing many problems over Iraq and Palestine, does not need another crisis, he said.
Welcoming the positive turn in Iran’s relations with Saudi Arabia, Khatami said that first major step in this direction was taken during his presidency (1999-2005).
Khatami said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, signaling a new warmth in their relationship, was the result of extensive ground works done by him as president.
“Iran and Saudi Arabia signed an important pact during my presidency,” he said.
Khatami’s visit to Saudi Arabia (1999-2000) played a crucial role in strengthening the bilateral ties, which had suffered after Iran’s 1979 revolution.
He said that Middle East crises should not be seen as “clash of civilizations.”
0“If we analyze any war, there are political or economic reasons behind it.” Blaming the West, particularly the US for the crises in the region, he said, “Be it anti-semitism or anti-fascism, they are the same. Both have been created in the West.”
Criticizing United States’ Iraq policy, Khatami said, “US policies will not solve any crisis. The solution is not unilateral occupation of Iraq. The truth is that America never stopped terrorism, they are spreading it. That is the problem we are facing now.”
Khatami reiterated that Iran was pursuing its nuclear energy program to meet its energy requirements.
“We have a huge reserve of oil and natural gas but it won’t last long. Many countries in the world see fossil fuels as harmful and are looking for replacements,” he said.
“Nuclear energy is the most accessible form of energy. We must also make use of wind and solar energy, said Khatami, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later in the day.
Nuclear-armed and energy-hungry India, which has long-standing ties with Iran, has repeatedly called for dialogue to resolve the row over Tehran’s suspected nuclear ambitions.
India, Pakistan and Iran are engaged in talks to build a 2,600-km Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline for Iranian natural gas.
However, earlier this month India banned all imports and exports to and from Iran that could contribute to Tehran’s nuclear program as a result of sanctions against Iran imposed by the Security Council in December.
Security Council members reached broad agreement late Friday on a draft resolution expanding the December sanctions after Iran spurned demands to freeze its sensitive nuclear fuel work.
