TEHRAN, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Iran was ready to transfer peaceful nuclear technology to Islamic countries, the official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.

   "The Islamic Republic of Iran never seeks weapons of mass destruction and with respect to the needs of Islamic countries, we are ready to transfer nuclear know-how to these countries," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying during a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in New York on the sidelines of a UN summit on Wednesday.

   The president said Iran had obtained the technology of building nuclear fuel cycles and would use the technology purely for peaceful purposes.

   "Iranian scientists have acquired nuclear fuel cycle. We have firmly decided to use this technology for peaceful purposes within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, international regulations and cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he said.

   Ahmadinejad also slammed some countries for having huge nuclear arsenals but holding an oppositional attitude toward peaceful use of nuclear technology by Iran.

   Ahmadinejad, who arrived in New York on Tuesday to attend the summit, announced earlier that he would present a new initiative to solve the Iranian nuclear standoff.

   Iran is currently under pressure of the European Union (EU) to re-suspend its uranium conversion activities before Sept. 19, when the IAEA Board of Governors gathers for a conference.

   Tehran resumed conversion activities on Aug. 8 and rejected a EU nuclear proposal.

   The EU, broker of the Iranian nuclear issue for two years, has been trying but in vain to dissuade Iran from its efforts to build nuclear fuel cycles, including all activities related to uranium enrichment.

   The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civil usage, a charge rejected by Tehran. Enditem