INTERVIEW - Don't repeat Iraq errors with Iran - OIC

By Claudia Parsons

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference warned the world on Friday not to repeat mistakes made with Iraq in dealing with Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. President Barack Obama and other Western leaders accused Iran on Friday of building a secret nuclear fuel plant and demanded Tehran immediately halt what they called a direct challenge to the international community.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a Turk who heads the 57-member body, said Iran had stated its nuclear program was entirely peaceful and "until today, we have not seen any evidence to the contrary."

"World public opinion should be careful not to make the same mistake that was done with Iraq, because that was the beginning of the same catastrophe that we are seeing today," he told Reuters in an interview.

Ihsanoglu recalled charges that the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and a dramatic Security Council meeting in 2003 at which the United States presented evidence of what it said were banned weapons.

Shortly after that, the United States invaded Iraq.

"Everybody remembers what has happened in the Security Council when the whole world was told that Iraq had nuclear weapons (and) weapons of mass destruction, but it proved to be not the case and no evidence whatsoever was found after the invasion of Iraq," Ihsanoglu said.

Ihsanoglu said he did not know the details of a second uranium enrichment plant Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency about this week.

"We have to see what are the IAEA reports and evidence," Ihsanoglu said.