Iran's foreign minister surprise attendee at Munich conference

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Friday surprised observers by registering as a last-minute speaker at the prestigious Munich Security Conference, an event which is expected to discuss nuclear disarmament among other issues, DPA reported.

Mottaki's move came just days after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signalled that his country was ready to accept an international deal on its controversial nuclear programme, in what was seen as a possible breakthrough.

Iran insists that its uranium-enrichment programme is purely for peaceful purposes, but Western powers fear that it is in fact designed to build a nuclear bomb.

Officials at the conference said that Mottaki was due to hold a "night-owl debate" late on Friday with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

On Saturday, top politicians such as Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and US Senator John Kerry, head of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, are expected to debate the future of nuclear disarmament.

"Growing threats from the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programmes, as well as the prospects of nuclear terrorism, make the case for a strong nuclear non-proliferation system more urgent than ever," the conference introductory pamphlet noted.

/Trend News/