Turkish FM says Iran has right to peaceful use of nuclear energy

[Lankan Ranger]

Turkish FM says Iran has right to peaceful use of nuclear energy

Turkey on Thursday urged Iran to offer assurances that it won't seek nuclear weapons and said all countries should have the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Turkey, NATO's sole Muslim member, has friendly ties with Iran and hosting new rounds of talks in Istanbul between Iran and world powers on Tehran's nuclear activities.

""We are against nuclear weapons, but we believe that all countries have the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy,"" Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Davutoglu urged Iran to ""provide assurances about its nuclear program that there will be no intention to produce weapons.""

He expressed hope that such a ""good mechanism"" could be achieved during the talks.

Lavrov, whose country is among the world powers negotiating with Iran, said there was a need for Iran to agree to intrusive inspection of its nuclear sites.

""It's not an obligation, but it will certainly be required given the history of the Iranian nuclear issue,"" Lavrov said.

Iran says it wouldn't negotiate over its rights enshrined in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. As an NPT member state, Iran said it has every right to enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel.

""If it is peaceful, Iran will have the right, like any other NPT member, to go for nuclear fuel,"" Lavrov said.

Brazil and Turkey have recently emerged as important allies for Tehran in backing attempts to restart negotiations on a deal that would see Iran ship out some of its low-enriched uranium in exchange for fuel rods for a small reactor making medical isotopes.

According to the deal Iran was to send 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium to fuel the Tehran research reactor.

However the West did not welcome the move and instead adopted a fourth round of sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council.

But Lavrov extended support to the idea of Iran shipping out low-enriched uranium in return for fuel.

""It's an important project. It's needed for medical use. It's legitimate ... we need to improve confidence,"" he said.

Last week, Iran took several international envoys to a tour of its nuclear facilities, as a gesture of transparency.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=234525

 

[Saithan]

The challenge or problem is that there truly isn't anything Iran can do to avoid "western" suspecion. Except if they lay down all resistance to protect their knowledge about nuclear research and let america waltz in with all their CIA agents to take pictures and look over their shoulders and just monitor everything they do. (exaggerated to prove a point).

At least look at it like this, Iran is more stable than North Korea.

The turkish FM and PM has been saying the same things, every nation has the right to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purpose. We can keep up the same old arguments for and against. But at the end of the day there is no proof of weapons development.

And the only thing I don't think anyone wants to see is another war started based on false reports.

 

[damm1t]

of course they have right as much as usa, russia, china, france, israel, britain etc. have ..

but sadly for west, any muslim country is potentially terrosist and any technological development is used for building weapons and a nuclear development is far more for a muslim country can ever get, it must be controlled by right-minded westerns, otherwise they may build nukes and nuke them eventually.

but the fact is thats what the west did in past and they keep doing.