Iran offers nuclear technology to Gulf nations-TV

TEHRAN, Dec 16 (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a Kuwaiti envoy that Iran was ready to share its nuclear know-how with other countries in the region, state television reported today.

Alarmed by Iran's nuclear ambitions and Israel's presumed nuclear arms stockpile, Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Arab states recently announced plans to set up their own nuclear energy programme for peaceful purposes.

Iran, which faces possible UN Security Council sanctions for failing to heed demands it halt nuclear fuel work, says it has no intention of making atomic bombs and has in the past offered to share its technology with other countries.

''Iran is ready to give its valuable experiences and achievements in peaceful nuclear technology to the countries of the region,'' Ahmadinejad told Mohammad Dhaifullah Sharar, a special envoy of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Television also quoted Ahmadinejad as welcoming the decision of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to acquire peaceful nuclear technology.

The GCC, which groups Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, announced its wish to produce nuclear energy in a statement issued at the close of its last summit in Riyadh last week.

REUTERS MS HT1952