FM says nuclear case a national
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, April 16, IRNA
Palestine Conference-Meet
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Saturday the nuclear energy issue has become a matter of national concern for Iran.
Mottaki made the remarks during a meeting with the president of the Malaysian Senate, Abdul Hamid Pawanteh, on the sidelines of the Third International Conference on Qods and Support for the Rights of the Palestinian People which kicked off here Friday afternoon.
"Iran intends to resolve the nuclear standoff through diplomacy and in line with its ongoing cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"The United States should acknowledge the fact that it is no longer in a position to cause a crisis in the region," the minister said.
He, moreover, said that pressures currently imposed on Iran were meant to force it to abandon its rights.
"But if we retreat from our rights today pressures will be imposed on other countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) tomorrow," he pointed out.
He said rights and obligations are the two important aspects of international conventions and treaties, and argued that "just as we have commitments we should also be able to enjoy our rights." Some three years ago the US attacked Iraq and declared war over after three months, he noted, but that the occupation continues because "after three years, Washington is still unable to solve the Iraqi problem and has even called for help."
Likewise, he added, "it (US) attacked Afghanistan to establish stability in the country but after four years even UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan has acknowledged that insecurity is still the main problem in Afghanistan."
Moreover, Mottaki stressed the importance of promoting the concept of an `Asian parliament' as distinguished from the "European Parliament'.
Pointing to what he described as the "very good relations" between Tehran and Kuala Lumpur particularly in the parliamentary field, the minister called on the two sides to exploit their potentials to further expand their technological and industrial cooperation.
Pawanteh, who praised Iran's important position in the Islamic world, said Iran and Asia have never enjoyed such influential ties as they do now.
Referring to Iran's nuclear case, he said technology and knowhow are God-given assets for human beings and cannot be monopolized by certain states or persons.
The Malaysian speaker, who noted that oil resources were not unlimited, called for the use of other sources of energy.
He said nuclear energy was a matter of countries' survival, and therefore technology should be availed of to ensure their survival.
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