Special report:Iran Nuclear Crisis

    MOSCOW, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran was not going to make nuclear weapons and "does not represent a threat to the world," a senior Iranian diplomat said here on Friday.

    Nuclear weapons were ineffective, and Iran was not going to make them and did "not even set this goal," Manouchehr Mohammadi, the visiting Iranian deputy foreign minister, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

    Israel had a lot of nuclear warheads, but it could never use them against the peoples of Lebanon and Palestine, he said.

    Iran had two primary aims -- a nuclear program aimed at overall economic development, and the unifying of Muslims on the basis of common values, Mohammadi said.

    Iran's Ambassador to Russia Gholamreza Ansari also gave his assurance that Iran "is ready to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on a full scale and provide all conditions for inspections."

    "We trust Russia and the IAEA. We do not have any nuclear ambitions," he said.

    The ambassador proposed creating a "triangle" -- the IAEA, Russia and Iran.

    "The problem around the nuclear program is too politicized. It should be viewed from a technological perspective, as Iran does not carry any danger. We are ready to show to Russia and the IAEA all facilities in order to prove that we do not have nuclear weapons," Ansari said.

    Iran has been accused of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. However, it has repeatedly affirmed that its nuclear program is purely for civil purposes, and insisted on its right to peaceful nuclear technology granted by the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty).

    The UN Security Council adopted a presidential statement on March 29 which urged Iran to fully restore the suspension of all activities related to uranium enrichment within 30 days. Enditem