Mottaki sums up results of Baku OIC gathering

Speaking to IRNA, the IRI Foreign Minister said minutes before leaving Baku that the Baku conference was held under certain conditions prevailing in Islamic World.

He reiterated, "The situation in occupied lands and coming to power of Hamas Government in Palestine, aggravation of the Zionist regime's criminal acts, the situation of Iraq, where the permanent government has come to power, the fragile status in Afghanistan in terms of the security conditions, on the one hand, and Iran's nomination of the current (Iranian) year as the Year of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on the other hand, make the conditions very special today."

Mottaki added, "We have to add to that list the latest stands adopted by our country regarding our peaceful nuclear program." The Iranian top diplomat referred to the issuance of the OIC ministerial meeting's ending communique, arguing, "The document has some very important parts."

Mottaki added, "Regarding Palestine, the communique has praised resistance of the oppressed Palestinian nation, welcomed coming to power of Hamas government based on people's free votes, called for rushing assistance urgently to the Palestinian nation and government, and condemned the criminal acts committed by Israel against the innocent women, children, and men, particularly in recent days." He said that reflection of the nomination of the current (Iranian) year (ending on March 21, 2007) as the Year of the Holy Prophet in documents of OIC meeting was of great significance, adding, "The Foreign Ministers of the Islamic World considered that nomination as a type of praising Prophet Muhammad's grand personality and also condemned the blasphemous plot hatched against him in some EU press." Mottaki said, "The need for maintaining the existing solidarity within the Islamic World, and to move unanimously to safeguard the Islamic values and sanctities, too, was emphasized under the same entry in the communique."

He added that the OIC Foreign Ministers welcomed the Islamic Republic of Iran's proposal for hosting a conference of Foreign Ministers of Iraq's neighbors in Tehran on July 17th and 18th, considering the matter as an important ratification of the conference.

Our country's Foreign Minister also considered the Baku Conference as an appropriate opportunity for the Islamic World Foreign Ministers to hole bilateral talks.

Mottaki added, "A new initiative on the sidelines of this Conference was a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan".

He said that in his recent trip Islamabad the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had welcomed the idea, and the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, too, had done the same in his recent visit of Tehran, adding, "in that meeting we exchanged ideas on how to restore peace and security in Afghanistan and surveyed ways to boost trilateral border nd economic cooperation."

Mottaki said, "We also agreed to maintain high level trilateral talks and to prepare the ground for holding a trilateral summit, as well, to survey the current conditions in Afghanistan."

He referred to agreements on need to further facilitate border transactions and to confront terrorist moves more effectively as other decisions made at that meeting.

Focusing on issue of the reflection of Iran's nuclear program at Baku conference, Mottaki said, "The Islamic countries each separately confirmed the righteousness of Iran's stand on its insistence to have full access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."

He added, "Some 20 days ago in Malaysia 116 countries emphasized Iran's absolute right in that respect, and at Baku OIL meeting, too, the conference asked for resuming of negotiations with the West without any preconditions."

The IRI Foreign Minister said, "The message of the NAM Foreign Ministers for all involved parties in those talks was quite clear: seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis, based on negotiations, and without any preconditions."

Mottaki expressed hope that the world would dully grasp the essence of that message, adding, "We believe under the prevailing conditions, and the will expressed by such a large number of countries' the falsehood of the big lie that a unanimous international consensus against the Islamic Republic of Iran is already formed would be proved."
Emphasizing that Iran maintains firm in its insistence on materializing its absolute legal right, he added, "The important thing in that respect is the creation of a positive atmosphere." The Iranian FM considered the proposed new Western package to Iran as "a step forward compared to the ones proposed in previous years", arguing, "We are surveying the contents of that package seriously and carefully."

Pointing out that there are no moratoriums defined for presenting a reply to those proposals, he said, "We hope the disputes over the time factor would not further politicize the matter."

Mottaki added, "We are surveying the package seriously, with a positive viewpoint, and carefully, and we believe relying on strong political will, and the good will of all sides, the negotiations might be resumed without any preconditions, but in any such talks Iran's right must be recognized on the one hand, and efforts aimed at strengthening the NPT can be pursued on the other."

He said, "Reaching a consensus with the West in that respect would affect the efforts aimed at restoration of peace and stability in entire region, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the Islamic Republic of Iran can offer valuable assistance aimed at achieving those objectives."

Elsewhere in the interview the IRI Foreign Minister considered his talks with the Azeri President Elham Aliyev on the sidelines of the OIC meeting as important.

He added, "In my meeting with President Aliyev I delivered President Ahmadinejad's message."

Mottaki added, "The important point in our talks with Azeri officials was both sides' agreement that in our bid to further expand ties and cooperation, both sides should ignore factors that aim at diminishing the level of our relations.