Kazakh President Nazarbayev warns against military strikes on Iran

Moscow, Apr 19 (UNI) Kazakh President Nursultan Nazabayev today warned the United States against air strikes on Iran, saying an armed confrontation with Tehran was fraught with serious consequences for the global community.

''I am convinced that a military confrontation with Iran is fraught with serious consequences for the entire world,'' Nazarbayev said at the opening ceremony of the sixth Eurasian media forum in Almaty, the Kazakh capital.

''We hope that Iran, our friendly neighbour, will convince the world that it is engaged only in peaceful nuclear energy exploration. The nations of our region and, I am sure, the entire world are waiting for this,'' Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

Meanhwile, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov today said Russia hoped the US will not launch air strikes against Iran and called for unity within the UN Security Council.

''So far the situation remains within the diplomatic framework and Russia has twice voted. Unity of the UN Security Council exists.

The last two resolutions were passed by the Security Council unanimously. And the main thing is to preserve the unity of the Security Council,'' Ivanov said in an interview to the The Financial Times.

He also warned that otherwise Iran could suffer the fate of Iraq, which has been brought to the brink of civil war by the US campaign against the Saddam Hussein regime and subsequent attempts to foster democracy in the country.

UNI