Sudan backs Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy

Jan 25, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday pledged his country’s support for Iran’s position on peaceful use of nuclear technology.

Iranian Deputy President Ahmed Moussawi, who arrived in Khartoum earlier Wednesday on an official visit to Sudan, delivered a letter to the Sudanese president from his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmedinejad concerning the position of the Iranian authority toward its nuclear file and its right topeaceful use of nuclear energy, the Sudanese news agency reported.

Moussawi said after meeting with Bashir that his country is committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that it leaves the door open for dialogue and negotiation on the issue. “But if they forbid us from exercising our right to obtain peaceful nuclear technology…, we will never submit,” added Moussawi.

The European Union cancelled a scheduled nuclear talk with Iran and called for an emergency meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog on Feb. 2 to refer Iran’s case to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions after Tehran resumed nuclear fuel research on Jan. 10.

Moussawi said, “We talked bilateral relations and the means to promote them in the different domains. We agreed they were belowthe required level despite the capabilities and resources in thetwo countries.”

(Xinhua)