While West whinges, neighbors back Iran N program

Sun Sep 27, 2009

Amid Western hue and cry over Iran's newly-disclosed nuclear enrichment facility, two of the country's neighbors have voiced support for Tehran's nuclear energy program.

Iraq and Turkey have cautioned the West against imposing any new sanctions and urged guarantee of Tehran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Iraqi president Jalal Talabani said that Western sanctions against Iran would not work and that only a real negotiation would help resolve the issue.

He also warned that his country will never allow Israel or any other country to use its airspace to carry out attacks against Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Iran's northwestern neighbor, Turkey has also urged caution over new sanctions, saying they will not be useful.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to visit Tehran next month to discuss Iran's nuclear program with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Erdogan ruled out any attempts to impose sanctions on Tehran's gas industry, saying sanctions would be especially problematic for its neighbor Turkey.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory, gives the country the right to the full nuclear fuel cycle if used for peaceful purposes.

In line with its guarantee to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for clarity on its nuclear activities, Iran has informed the agency that it is constructing a second plant for uranium enrichment.

Tehran has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction across the globe.

The UN nuclear watchdog in its previous reports had confirmed that Iran -- in its first enrichment facility in Natanz -- only managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level of "less than 5 percent."

Uranium, which fuels a nuclear power plant, can be used for military purposes only if enriched to high levels of above 90 percent.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/107222.html.