Iran has the right to produce nuclear power-Belarus

MINSK, Sep 7 (Reuters) Ex-Soviet Belarus, a fierce critic of US policy, today defended Iran's right to pursue its nuclear programme and rejected any notion of Western sanctions if Tehran failed to comply with Western demands.

Belarussian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov was speaking after talks with his Iranian opposite number as top diplomats from six major powers met in Berlin to discuss what steps to take after Iran refused to stop sensitive nuclear work.

''Belarus believes that any nuclear country that adheres to the agreement on nuclear non-proliferation is fully entitled to pursue nuclear activities,'' Martynov told a news conference alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

''We have no reason to doubt the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme. Any disputed issues must be settled by negotiations. Any use of sanctions would only produce negative results.'' The United States faced growing opposition at the Berlin talks to its attempts to persuade other countries to impose sanctions on Iran after Tehran ignored a UN Security Council deadline to stop uranium enrichment.

China and Russia are reluctant to impose sanctions and question US and EU suggestions that Iran poses a threat.

Mottaki said Washington had no right to issue demands.

''The Americans must realise that the language of threats does not work,'' he told reporters. ''A nuclear state that used nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cannot demand that other countries not use nuclear power for peaceful purposes.'' Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, accused by Western countries of crushing fundamental rights, has aligned himself with several countries at odds with the United States.

Lukashenko is unable to visit most Western states because of sanctions imposed on Minsk after his contested re-election in March and has received no Western visitors since the late 1990s.

Last month, he held warm talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, another vocal opponent of US policy.

Martynov said Belarus and Iran ''hold very close positions on world events. Belarus views Iran as a serious point of support...and intends to boost trade and economic ties''.

Mottaki earlier congratulated Lukashenko on his re-election -- a rare endorsement after Western states dismissed the poll as blatantly rigged.

Russia, Belarus's eastern neighbour with which it hopes to create a ''union state'', also backed Lukashenko's election and urged the country's opposition to work with him.

REUTERS KD LS RAI2219