Tuesday, Dec 07, 2010
(Rewrites introduction, and adds comments and background.)
By Nour Malas
Of ZAWYA DOW JONES
ABU DHABI (Zawya Dow Jones)--The United Arab Emirates' foreign minister said Tuesday the Gulf country wants the United Nations to lift its sanctions on Iran, but the Islamic republic has to co-operate with the international community in squashing mistrust over its nuclear program.
"We want the Security Council to go back and end the sanctions on Iran, but we want Iran to help in this as well," Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said.
"Diplomacy is the way forward," on the conflict over Iran's nuclear program, he said at a press conference at the closing of the annual Gulf Cooperation Council summit, taking place this year in Abu Dhabi.
"We've also been talking to the Iranians that if there are any issues that are creating any mistrust...these issues have to be resolved quickly and in a transparent manner," Sheik Abdullah said.
"If it's willing to come clean to the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], it will be a much more important and effective member of the region," he later added.
U.S. intelligence leaked through WikiLeaks disclosed a stronger concern by Arab leaders over a potentially nuclear-armed Iran than Gulf states have traditionally expressed publicly.
The U.A.E.'s foreign minister said Tuesday the countries of the Gulf region have always upheld Iran's right to a peaceful nuclear program, and that talks in Geneva were "a good step after almost over a year."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said earlier Tuesday world powers should lift sanctions against Iran if they want the latest nuclear talks to succeed.
The U.N. passed its latest round of sanctions on Iran last June. The U.A.E., a big trading partner of the Islamic Republic, has had to balance its application of the U.N.'s financial penalties against Iran against centuries-old commercial ties.
-By Nour Malas, Dow Jones Newswires, +97150 2890223; nour.malas@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-12-10 1700GMT
