King Abdullah urges Tehran not to exacerbate confrontation with the West
Berlin (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Saudi King Abdullah urged Iran to avoid escalation in its standoff with the West over its nuclear programme, calling for a solution that would allow Tehran to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes. This could be achieved by setting up an international body under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to provide each member with enriched uranium, the king said during a visit to Germany, a country directly involved in the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear programme. His remarks came a week after Gulf States announced their intention to start their own peaceful nuclear programme.
“The world fears that Iran's nuclear program will lead to developing nuclear weapons. Iran has announced its nuclear program is intended for peaceful use,” the king said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine. “If this is the case, then we don't see any justification for escalation, confrontation and challenge, which only makes issues more complicated.”
The Saudi king’s proposal for joint enrichment projects came a week after Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal presented a similar plan, which was welcomed by Tehran “but if the condition is stopping enrichment in Iran, it will not be acceptable.”
EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana also pushed for a shared enrichment centre and warned that existing non-proliferation rules were in danger of collapse.
He noted that Arab states such as Morocco, Egypt and Jordan had started ambitious nuclear programmes in the past year, whereas Iran was enriching uranium for non-existent power stations.
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