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PGCC wants greater Iranian guarantees
Sunday, May 07, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, May 7 (IranMania) - Persian Gulf Arab states are worried by Iran's nuclear energy program and are seeking greater assurances from Tehran that its intentions are entirely peaceful, the UAE foreign minister said, AFP reported.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nayhan, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the six-member Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, was speaking after a summit of PGCC leaders in Riyadh.
"The Iranian nuclear program ... is worrisome not only for us, but for the entire world," he said, adding that "we appreciate Iran's comments to reassure countries in the region about its program."
But he added that, out of a desire to "ensure stability and the future of generations to come in the face of risks to the environment that could come about for one reason or another, we have to have further assurances, which we are seeking from Iran."
Speaking after the closed-door meeting, he said Iran is "bound by international commitments, notably to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as it is bound by commitments to its neighbors, with which it should act with more transparency."
Noting that Iran is "both a neighboring Muslim country and a partner in the region," Abdullah said "it is incumbent on us to reinforce our relations with this neighbor despite our differences."
That was a reference to a dispute over three islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by the United Arab Emirates and held by Iran.
Tehran's top national security official, Ali Larijani was in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi earlier this week for talks with the country's leadership. He said Iran's neighbors had nothing to fear from a nuclear power station being built at Bushehr with Russian help.
He also said Iran welcomed any efforts by Persian Gulf Arab states to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear program.
The Iranian envoy stressed that Iran sought to resolve the nuclear crisis through dialogue and to cooperate with Arab neighbors to "bolster security and stability in the region away from the interests of the big powers."
Iran is in a standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions, as the United States and other countries accuse it of using its nuclear energy program to hide a secret weapons program.
Iran insists that its objective is simply to develop peaceful atomic energy.
Despite their strong ties with the United States, Persian Gulf Arab states have been eager to appear neutral in Iran's nuclear row with the West and are jittery about the fallout on the oil-rich region from threatened US military action against Tehran.
In addition to the United Arab Emirates, the GCC is made up of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
