NEW DELHI: Iranian envoy Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh dispelled apprehensions of the recent Indo-US nuclear deal having any negative impact on Tehran's relations with New Delhi, while emphasizing that Indo-Iranian bilateral ties have always been "very cordial."

It is this deep ties over the ages that allowed us to sidestep a possible contentious issue of India's vote against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Nabizadeh said, adding, "Certainly there was a negative impact. Iran decided to ignore it and now it is history. But we hope that it would not be repeated."

On Iran's nuclear program, Nabizadeh specifically said: "We will act according to rules and regulations of Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and IAEA (guidelines). We have always had a peaceful program. We must have nuclear power according to our needs."

"The United States has exercised a lot of pressure to prevent Iran from pursuing its peaceful nuclear program, even at IAEA," he said, adding that this move has not found much support globally. Even the move to transfer Iran's nuclear-program case from IAEA to UN has been rejected as "illegal," he said.

"We feel that we have support for pursuing a peaceful nuclear program. Under NPT, we have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear activities. I hope that every country will be able to promote scientific pursuits for peaceful purposes," Nabizadeh said.

On the statement that Israel could "kidnap" Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Nabizadeh said: "This is an illegal statement. It will create insecurity in the region. But we have registered our complaint with the UN Security Council through our representative."

Highlighting the importance of regional diplomacy, Nabizadeh said: "It is more important to have good relations with neighbors than with distant countries." Elaborating on this, he said regional diplomacy for India in South Asia is as important as it is for Iran among the Arab nations.

The Indo-Iran bilateral relations will strengthen further and enter new areas, following high-level exchange of visits from both countries, Nabizadeh said.

Apart from the historical strong Indo-Iranian ties, Nabizadeh referred to the two having had "very good cooperation" in the nonaligned movement (NAM). Stating that bilateral ties are moving beyond the oil-trade, Nabizadeh highlighted the new importance being given to "expansion of relations in political, cultural and economic areas." This is supported by several agreements for greater cultural, educational and scientific links between Iranian and Indian ministries.

"Iranian cultural week was recently held in India. The Indian cultural week is expected to be held in Iran soon," the envoy said.

The upswing in bilateral economic ties, Nabizadeh pointed out is marked by the increase in trade exchange over the past two years from "$7 billion to $10 billion, $8 billion of which includes oil and the rest from nonoil items." The Indo-Iran trade stood at $1.18 billion in 2003-04, from $913 million in the preceding year.

Nabizadeh also delved on several joint committees having been set up to add momentum to the Indo-Iran ties. In this direction, the 15th joint economic commission is to meet in November in Tehran, to focus on economic, political and cultural issues, he said.

The prospects of Indo-Iranian ties expanding in the tourism sector are also bright. Of late, importance is also being given to "exchange of ideas and cooperation in the private sector," which is likely to show results in the coming year, Nabizadeh said.

Acknowledging the prevalence of "certain problems related to banking and credit," Nabizadeh said that these are likely to be resolved soon, as "discussions are taking place to open a branch of an Iranian bank in India and of an Indian bank in Iran."

On the much-publicized Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, Nabizadeh said that recent developments have been "very fruitful." These include the agreement on the pipeline being via land and not water. Iran has responded "positively" to India's recent demand of the gas being delivered at the Indo-Pak border, he said.

Nevertheless, there remain few hurdles such as the problem of transit and custom fees having not yet been resolved between India and Pakistan. "Unfortunately, no conclusion (Indo-Pak) has been yet arrived at, though some discussions have begun again," he said.

Describing IPI as "one of the most important projects," Nabizadeh said that it would "contribute to economy, political stability and security of the region."