Iraq supports Iran's right to use nuclear technology for peaceful means and wants a diplomatic solution to the standoff between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. over uranium enrichment, the Iraqi foreign minister said.
``In our view the Islamic Republic has the right to have nuclear technology as long as it is for peaceful means,'' Hoshyar Zebari said today in a press conference from Baghdad broadcast live by Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based al-Arabiya television station.
Zebari was speaking after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who ruled out holding direct talks with the U.S. to resolve the standoff over the Iranian uranium enrichment program.
U.S. President George W. Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, supporters of the new Iraqi government, are at the forefront of western criticism of Iran's nuclear program which they suspect may be cover for the development of nuclear weapons.
Iran is under increasing pressure from the U.S. and Europe to abandon its nuclear program, which the Islamic Republic says is aimed at producing electricity and isn't a cover for developing an atomic bomb..
The United Nations Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany met in London on May 24 to discuss incentives offered by France, the U.K. and Germany to encourage Iran to stop enriching uranium...