RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Turkey called on Iran Saturday to avoid escalating its standoff with the international community over its nuclear program. They called for a solution that would allow Tehran and other nations in the Middle East to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
“It is our strong desire that the Middle East should remain free from weapons of mass destruction,” said Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal while addressing a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.
At the beginning of the news conference, Prince Saud and Davutoglu called on Israel to halt Jewish settlements in order to create a conducive environment for peace talks. The two ministers also spoke about a range of bilateral, regional and international issues including Saudi-Turkish relations, the volatile situation in Iraq, the incursion of rebels into Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
In reply to a question about the repatriation of Osama Bin Laden’s daughter to Saudi Arabia from Iran, Prince Saud said that the Kingdom was holding talks with Tehran aimed at repatriating 17-year-old Iman Bin Laden, who fled from a family compound near Tehran to the Saudi Embassy in the hope of leaving Iran. Prince Saud, however, advised journalists “not to make this issue a political one.”
He declined to give more details about negotiations concerning Iman, saying it could complicate the issue. “The case of her repatriation is a humanitarian issue and we are negotiating with the Iranian government,” he said.
Referring to the need to roll back the Iranian nuclear program, Prince Saud said: “Iran has the right to acquire nuclear power for peaceful purposes.”
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are there to help Tehran to defuse the crisis with the help of dialogue and diplomacy, said the Turkish Minister. Riyadh and Ankara want all countries in the region, including Israel, to abide by the provisions of international agreements concerning nuclear programs, Davutoglu added.
Referring to the stalled Middle East peace process, Prince Saud called on Israel to freeze all settlements. “The ongoing Israeli settlements and the Jewish policies of oppression will eventually doom the peace negotiations to failure,” said Prince Saud. He accused powerful nations of “double standard in dealing with Israel.”
He called on the international community, especially the United States, to ensure full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab lands.
Davutoglu also pledged full support for any peace initiative and said Turkey was also ready to mediate talks between Israel and Syria.
“If we see a serious approach, we will do whatever is possible for relations to improve between Syria and Israel,” Davutoglu said.
Referring to the situation near the Saudi-Yemeni border, Prince Saud said conditions had deteriorated in northern Yemen where fighting between government troops and rebels has been going on for some time.
He pledged to support the territorial integrity of Yemen. A large number of infrastructure projects are being executed in Yemen with the help of Gulf states which are committed to make Yemen a prosperous neighbor, he added. Concerning Afghanistan, the two foreign ministers voiced identical views and called for reconciliation among warring factions in order to restore peace in the war-torn country. On Iraq, Prince Saud and Davutoglu were hopeful that normalcy would return there soon.
The Turkish minister said parliamentary elections on time would help eradicate terrorism from Iraq where some groups have been trying to hinder all peace efforts.
