By IANS,
New Delhi : Welcoming US’ pledge to cut its nuclear arsenals, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said Iran too has full rights to the peaceful uses of atomic energy.
Nazarbayev welcomed the statement by US President Barack Obama seeking a world without nuclear weapons and that Washington was ready for a dialogue with Iran based on mutual interests and mutual respect, according to a statement by the Kazakh embassy here Thursday.
“We have always thought this (dialogue) is the best solution to the situation (with Iran),” Nazarbayev said, adding Kazakhstan has always stood for peace in the region.
“President Nazarbayev noted that Iran, like other countries, has the full right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes,” the statement said.
Nazarbayev has expressed willingness to host an international nuclear fuel bank in Kazakhstan..
“If a nuclear fuel bank is created, we could consider hosting it here, in a country which has signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and voluntarily renounced nuclear weapons.”
The idea of an international fuel bank under the auspices of IAEA, supported by the US administration, provides for creating a global repository which would allow countries to tap into their reserves to fuel their nuclear plants without the need to develop their own nuclear enrichment capability.