Erdogan, in Tehran, says 'No one has the right to attack Iran'

Turkish PM confident Iran developing nuclear capabilities for ‘peaceful’ purposes

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan decried the idea of an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities during a press conference in Tehran with Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi on Wednesday.

“No one has the right to use force against a country whose nuclear capabilities are used for peaceful purposes,” he said. “Anyone who has common sense opposes the use of nuclear power as a weapon, but at the same time, nuclear activity for peaceful purposes should not be opposed.”

Erdogan confirmed reports that Turkey has offered to host talks between Iran and the P5+1 to discuss the Iranian nuclear program.

“We had already proposed hosting the talks in Istanbul and the Iranian party too has announced its readiness to that end,” IRNA reported him saying.

Iran’s foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced Wednesday that talks between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany were expected to take place on April 13.

The last round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers — US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — was held in Istanbul in January 2011 but ended without agreement.

Running against growing Western sanctions and isolation of Iran, Erdogan expressed his intent to increase bilateral trade with Iran, and aims to double it in the next few years.

“In 2011 the trade exchanges exceeded $16 billion and our goal is to raise the figure to $35 billion by 2015. Ministers of the two countries, especially the ministers in charge of commerce and economy shoulder a grave duty in this connection,” he said.

Erdogan arrived in Tehran on Wednesday from South Korea, where he attended a nuclear security summit and also held talks with US President Barack Obama. He is expected to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit and discuss Iran’s nuclear developments.

Iran says the expansion of its enrichment program is meant only to provide nuclear fuel, denies any interest in developing the atomic bomb, and says the right of countries to enrich nuclear power is enshrined in the Nonproliferation Treaty.