Iran Seeks Islamic Nations' Support for Nuclear Stance
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
May 12, 2006 7:44AM EST

By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
May 12, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Iran is looking to a summit of eight key Islamic states on Friday to support its campaign for nuclear technology, while calling for solidarity against Western "hegemony."

The meeting in Bali, Indonesia, gives Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the opportunity to appeal directly to fellow Islamic leaders for backing in the face of steadily increasing Western pressure at the U.N.

The U.S. and European governments want Iran to abandon uranium enrichment, claiming that Tehran is using a civilian nuclear program as a front to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies the charge.

The D-8 (Developing-8) summit brings together the leaders of eight important Muslim countries - Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Malaysia and Iran.

Ahead of the meeting, the host nation, Indonesia, said nuclear energy would feature strongly on the agenda.

Indonesia supports Iran's right to pursue nuclear power, although it has also urged Iran to be more transparent about its activities.

Jakarta, which hosted Ahmadinejad on a state visit ahead of the D-8 meeting, offered earlier this week to use its good relations with the U.S. and Iran to help mediate an end to the nuclear standoff, although there were no signs either side will take up the offer.

Indonesia itself is eager to develop a nuclear energy sector, as are Egypt, Nigeria, Turkey and Bangladesh. Pakistan has already mastered the nuclear cycle and has also developed nuclear weapons.

Indonesian foreign ministry director of multilateral affairs Mohammad Hidayat said the government had prepared a draft declaration for the Bali summit that included references to the right to peacefully use nuclear energy.

The leaders would discuss ways to address concerns resulting from record-high oil prices and to find alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear.

The Jakarta Post quoted Hidayat as saying Iran could make use of the D-8 declaration on nuclear energy to muster support from the other D-8 members for its nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad has used a pre-summit visit to Indonesia to attack the West, telling an Indonesian television channel the West had more to lose than Iran did if sanctions were imposed.

But he also hinted that he might be willing to hold talks with other governments over the nuclear issue, saying he was "ready to engage in dialogue with anybody" except Israel.

In a separate TV interview, Ahmadinejad said Iran would cooperate over the nuclear issue if the U.N. took a decision "that is in line with the international rules."

His foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, also used the visit to make political points.

The eight Muslim states, he told a pre-summit ministerial meeting, "can defend their individual and collective interests against the challenges and threats of globalization and the domineering policy of certain powers which try to dictate their own political, economic and cultural views to others."

Mottaki said developing nations' interests "will be best ensured only when they come together ... to have a louder voice in international interaction."

Disparate group

Founded in Istanbul in 1997, the D-8's main stated aims were to expand economic cooperation and enhance cooperation in international decision-making.

Friday's summit may see the signing of a preferential trade agreement aimed at promoting economic interaction among the eight, initially by lowering tariffs on some export items. Trade among the eight climbed from $14.5 billion in 1997 to $21.3 in 2003, with a goal of $30 billion in 2006.

Despite having Islam in common the members of the D-8 differ in many ways, and Iran will not necessarily get a uniformly supportive reception.

Some are oil-rich while others, like Bangladesh, are resource- poor.

Some are among the world's most populous nations, while Malaysia, for instance, is included not for its size but because it is an influential player in the Islamic and developing worlds.

Even in religion, differences are evident between Islamist Iran, officially secular Sunni Turkey and predominantly moderate Indonesia, also Sunni. Nigeria is only about 51 percent Muslim.

With the notable exception of Iran, all eight have reasonably good ties with the U.S.

Turkey, a Western-leaning member of NATO, has an historical rivalry with Iran. The two similarly-sized countries, which share a border, are the largest non-Arab Muslim nations in the Mideast region.

Last January, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Iran to adopt a more "moderate and amenable" stance with regard to negotiations over its nuclear activities.

Turkey's aspirations to develop civilian nuclear power are widely seen as a response to Iran's programs, and some Turkish analysts have warned that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapons capability and upsets the regional power balance, Turkey may try to follow suit.

After talks with Ahmadinejad in Jakarta this week, the chairman of Indonesia's highest state institution, the People's Consultative Assembly, said the U.S. was worried that if Iran developed nuclear power then other countries such as Turkey and Indonesia, would also initiate programs.

Representatives of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany are due to meet again in London next week to discuss how to move ahead on the Iran issue.

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