Carter says Iran nuclear program 'legal'

Former US president Jimmy Carter says Iran's nuclear program is "legal," urging Washington and Tel Aviv to stop making threats against Iran.

"I hope and pray that Iran will be induced to permit international inspectors to come in and observe their entire nuclear program, because what they're doing so far is completely legal under the nonproliferation treaty," CNN quoted Carter as saying on Thursday.

"They have a right to purify uranium and plutonium to use for nuclear power," Carter said.

"If Iran is on the borderline, the constant threats that we or the Israelis are going to attack Iran is the best thing to force them to say, 'Let's defend ourselves.' I don't think Iran has made up their mind what to do, and I think the best thing we can do is engage them and stop making these idle threats," he added.

Iran has repeatedly declared that its nuclear program has never deviated from the frameworks of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and international regulations, stressing that it aims at no military ends.