Iran should heed NPT, solutions through dialogue: Pranab

Tehran, Feb 6 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that Iran should thrash out solutions through dialogue rather than militarily and keep the opinion of the IAEA in mind.

''Each country has the right to pursue its civil nuclear programme and Iran, being a signatory of the NPT, should abide by its provisions,'' Mr Mukherjee, who arrived here this evening, said.

Noting India and Iran share traditional bonds, rooted in time and eloquently reflected in the history of the two countries, he said that they were neighbours with deep civilisational, cultural and people to people links.'' The ''good relations'' are to the benefit of not only the two countrties but also for the entire region, Mr Mukherjee added.

The Minister will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki tomorrow where the tri-nation seven billion dollar gas pipeline project will also be discussed.

Mr Mukherjee will also meet Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and former Iranian President Akbar Hashmi Rafsanjani.

The visit by the Indian Minister comes a day after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf came here on a 24 hour visit.

Local media reports say both Islamabad and New Delhi are under acute American pressure against entering into trade deals with Iran, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

''The laying of the 2,700 km long gas pipeline to India and Pakistan is vital for both the countries, whose governments despite the demands of their people for continuation of the historical ties with Iran do not want the bully called the US to feel annoyed at them,'' the conservative Kayhan newspaper said in an editorial today.

The US has imposed various sanctions against Iran since 1979, following the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran on November 4 of that year. In August 1996, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was passed unanimously by the US Congress and signed into law which requires the government to impose sanctions on foreign companies that invest more than 20 million dollars a year in Iran's energy sector.

The visit by Mr Mukherjee, closely watched by the US, will be the first since New Delhi voted against the Iranian nuclear programme twice at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the past 18 months.

K Natwar Singh was the last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Tehran in September 2005.

The US had enacted a law last month to open the doors of global nuclear commerce with India in return for New Delhi placing 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors under international safeguards. The US also expects cooperation to isolate and dissuade Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

The pricing of gas through a seven billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India tri-nation pipeline that will help facilitate the supply of Iranian gas via Pakistan to India is another key issue on the agenda.

The three countries are said to have agreed on a pricing formula of the Iranian gas - a subject of intense negotiations for the past few months - at a meeting in Tehran last month.

Mr Mukherjee is also expected to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan with his counterpart.

The Indian Foreign Minister's trip to Tehran comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where the Iranian issue was discussed. The two countries agreed to cooperate to find 'an effective solution' to the Iranian nuclear standoff through 'political and diplomatic efforts.' The Iranian nuclear issue will figure in a meeting of Indian, Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, to be held in New Delhi later this month.

''Mr Mukherjee's visit is part of the regular process of high-level exchanges between the two countries,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

A two-day tripartite meeting between officials of India, Iran and Pakistan was held in the Iranian capital on January 24-25 to reach an agreement on pricing formula of the seven billion dollar gas pipeline project.

Iran is expected to export 90-million cubic metres of natural gas to Pakistan and another 60-million cubic metres to India per day.

Mr Mukherjee will leave for New Delhi tomorrow evening.

UNI