— PHOTO: PTI

The former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: The former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday that Tehran was not interested in building a nuclear weapon, but wanted to use civilian nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

At a 40-minute-long meeting with Dr. Singh at the Prime Minister's residence, Mr. Khatami said Iran's oil and gas resources were finite. Consequently, it wanted to use nuclear energy.

For propelling economic growth

Official sources said Dr. Singh told Mr. Khatami that India too was keen on developing nuclear energy to propel economic growth. He is also reported to have said that Iran had both rights and obligations as a signatory to the NPT.

Dr. Singh's response is in line with what New Delhi had been saying on Iran — it must adhere to international non-proliferation laws, while it had a right to produce nuclear energy for peaceful use.

Mr. Khatami described Dr. Singh as a friend of Iran and recalled his previous visits. The sources quoted Dr. Singh as telling the former President that he had always enjoyed talking to the scholar-statesman. Both concurred that dialogue was the mechanism to resolve difficult global issues.

Mr. Khatami, widely regarded as a moderate in Iranian politics, was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in 2003 in his capacity as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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