Special report: Iran nuclear crisis

   KUWAIT CITY, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Visiting former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Monday that he was certain Gulf Arab states will not support any U.S. strike on Iran.

   "We are certain that Gulf countries will not back the United States in waging an attack on Iran," Rafsanjani said on the second day of a visit to Kuwait.

   "The talk about a U.S. attack on Iran is nonsense and we are sure the Americans will not create problems for themselves," he said.

   Iran claimed last week that it had successfully enriched uranium to the level needed to make reactor fuel, igniting mounting criticism of the United States over Iran's nuclear program.

   Uranium enrichment can be extended to make weapons. Iran says that its nuclear program is for peaceful purpose.

   The UN Security Council has asked Iran to freeze its fuel cycle work by April 28. Enditem