MANAMA (AFP) — Bahrain welcomed on Friday an Iranian proposal to step up cooperation with Gulf Arab countries and stressed Tehran's right to develop a peaceful nuclear programme.
"We see the presentation of these proposals as a positive development to enhance peace in the region and to ensure stability and security," Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told participants at a regional security conference.
He was referring to proposals made on Monday by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attending a summit of Gulf Arab leaders, who are wary of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Ahmadinejad offered a regional security pact and a 12-point cooperation plan, including on free trade and joint investments in oil and gas, as he became the first Iranian leader to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit.
Sheikh Khaled said "no country in the region (should) conduct its relations with the world in a confrontational way".
He called for Iran's relations with the region and the outside world to "become a source of stability rather than conflict".
"While reiterating Iran's full sovereign right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, it is indispensable for Iran to actively and fully cooperate with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," he said.
The leaders of GCC states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- are worried about a potential escalation of the standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Sheikh Khaled dodged a question about the implications of a US intelligence report this week that said Iran halted a secret nuclear weapons programme in 2003. "Let's wait for developments," he said.
The National Intelligence Estimate has shaken long-held US policy assumptions that Iran is determined to acquire nuclear weapons regardless of international pressure.
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