Pakistan backs Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy use [View All]

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ISLAMABAD - Hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed ultraconservative Ali Larijani as the country’s new chief nuclear negotiator, Pakistan backed on Monday Iran’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

“Teheran has the legitimate right as signatory to the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to use the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Naeem Khan told reporters in Islamabad.

President Ahmadinejad appointed Monday Ali Larijani as head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) to take “correct decisions which secure both the interests and legal rights of the nation”.

Khan ruled out any mediation between Iran and the European Union (E.U) to resolve the continued stand-off over Teheran’s nuclear programme, saying one of the two parties would have to formally approach Islamabad to that end.