ISLAMIC GROUP SAYS IRANIAN NUCLEAR CRISIS MUST BE RESOLVED THROUGH U.N. WATCHDOG
Aida Sultanova

AP Worldstream
Jun 21, 2006

Foreign ministers from member nations of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference said Wednesday that the dispute over Iran’s nuclear
program needs to be resolved through the U.N. nuclear watchdog _
the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Tehran also has insisted the issue should be dealt with solely within
the IAEA, but the United States and other Western countries have
pushed for possible referral to the United Nations Security Council.

In recent weeks Iran has indicated it might be is willing to negotiate
the nuclear dispute with six world powers who have offered a package
of rewards if halts uranium enrichment.

In a statement issued at the end of a three-day meeting in the
Azerbaijani capital of Baku, diplomats said the Islamic organization’s
57 member nations had "the inalienable right" to develop nuclear
energy for peaceful purposes.

"We believe that the outstanding issues between the Islamic Republic
of Iran and the IAEA should be resolved within the IAEA framework as
the sole competent authority," the statement said. "The only way to
resolve the issue is to resume negotiations without any preconditions."

Iran insists that its nuclear program is aimed at generating
electricity, but the United States and European Union suspect that
it is aimed at building weapons.

Tehran is considering a Western package of incentives, also backed by
Russia and China, that calls on Iran to suspend, not permanently halt,
uranium enrichment as a condition for the start of talks, although
the negotiations are aimed at getting Iran to agree to a long-term
moratorium on such activity.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC’s secretary general, said the
organization also called for ridding the Middle East of all nuclear
weapons _ a long-standing demand by many Arab states directed mainly
at Israel and its clandestine nuclear arms program. Israel neither
acknowledges nor denies having nuclear weapons.

The OIC ministers also condemned Azerbaijan’s neighbor, Armenia,
blaming it for the lingering conflict over the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ethnic Armenian forces have controlled the mountainous territory
located entirely within Azerbaijan since six years of open fighting
ended in 1994 and the lack of resolution about its status has hampered
development of the strategic Caucasus region.

Ihsanoglu also criticized the media for last year’s controversy
surrounding the publication of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A
Danish newspaper first printed the cartoons, and other foreign
newspapers later followed, infuriating much of the Muslim world and
sparking deadly riots.

"This is impermissible. This is a crime against Islam. This is an
insult to Muslims," Ihsanoglu said.

"Freedom and responsibility should go hand-in-hand," he added.

"Irresponsible freedom is anarchy. We call on the Europeans to pay
attention to this issue."