The remarks were made during a news conference in Ankara’s Esenboga Airport last night, right after his return from a two-day official visit to Iran.
Asked if he had conveyed a message from US President Barack Obama to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the Iranian nuclear energy program, he said “as you know, we showed our stance towards Iran’s nuclear [energy] program with the Tehran Declaration.”
“We took the step together with the then president of Brazil, Mr. Lula, and we followed up on the decision in a determined way, and today it is proven that we were right. And now, we have clearly said this to Mr. Obama,” he added.
The Turkish premier stated that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said very clearly and openly that Iranians and Islamic beliefs do not allow for the use of WMD and there is no place for such weapons in Iran's defense strategy.
“In our meeting tonight, the Leader [of the Islamic Revolution] again made the same remark. Now after hearing such a remark, I cannot claim that Iran is producing nuclear weapons. The [Iranian] president [Ahmadinejad] confirms the same thing. Don’t they have the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear [energy] program?”
“The IAEA has so far reviewed Iran’s nuclear program and has made different announcements [from] time to time, but they [IAEA] do not say ‘Yes. There are [nuclear] weapons here [in Iran]’. They are talking of possibilities,” Erdogan added.
Erdogan said he hoped the world would treat Iran in a just manner and show its justice in the same way everywhere in the world.
“Now, the situation of Israel is known, there are such [a high] number of [nuclear] warheads in Israel, but nobody asks about it. Questions should be asked about it too, [and] the West should ask about it too,” he concluded.
The Turkish prime minister arrived in Tehran for an official two-day visit on Wednesday morning heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation.
During his stay, he met with top-ranking Iranian officials including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, President Ahmadinejad, First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, and Iran's Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani.
press tv/281
Publish Date: 31 March 2012 - 21:10
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Iran is against production and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) because it considers the production of such weapons against Islam, Press TV reports.