Source: AlterNet(Reuters) - Turkey and Qatar urged the West on Sunday not to attack Iran to solve a nuclear row, but to make greater efforts to negotiate an end to the dispute.
Speaking at the Munich
Security Conference, a gathering of security officials and diplomats,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said an attack would be a
"disaster" and the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme could be ended
very rapidly.
"If there is strong political will and mutual
confidence being established, this issue could be resolved in a few
days," he said. "The technical disputes are not so big. The problem is
mutual confidence and strong political will. "
Turkey was the
venue of the last talks between Western powers and Iran a year ago which
ended in stalemate because participants could not even agree on an
agenda.
The West has since imposed much tougher sanctions on
Iran, which it suspects of seeking nuclear weapons capability. Iran says
its nuclear work is purely civilian and peaceful.
Davutoglu
added: "A military option will create a disaster in our region. So
before that disaster, everybody must be serious in negotiations. We hope
soon both sides will meet again but this time there will be a complete
result."
In Tehran, the deputy head of Iran's elite
Revolutionary Guards told the semi-official Fars news agency Iran would
attack any country whose territory is used by "enemies" of the Islamic
state to launch a military strike against its soil.
Washington
and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to
resolve the standoff. Iran has warned of firm retaliation if attacked,
including targeting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf and the Strait of
Hormuz shipping lane.
Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs, Khalid Mohamed al-Attiyah, whose Gulf country is increasingly
active in regional diplomacy, said an attack "is not a solution, and
tightening the embargo on Iran will make the scenario worse. I believe
we should have dialogue."
"I believe that with our allies and
friend in the West we should open a serious dialogue with the Iranians
to get out of this dilemma. This is what we feel in our region."
Tension between Iran and the West rose last month when Washington and
the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet on Iran to try to
force it to provide more information on its nuclear programme. The
measures are aimed at shutting off the second-biggest OPEC oil
exporters' sales of crude. (Reporting by William Maclean; Editing by
Tim Pearce)
