CAIRO, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Monday that Egypt had always been hoping for a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, the ministry said in a press statement.

    Egypt's official news agency MENA said Abul Gheit was making comment on UN Security Council Resolution 1737 adopted unanimously on Saturday, which imposed sanctions on Iran to force it to abandon its nuclear program.

    "Sanctions are not the optimal way out of the problem," said Abul Gheit in the statement.

    Abul Gheit said the door was still open for Iran and the international community to return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful settlement.

    Abul Gheit said Egypt backed any state seeking to obtain peaceful nuclear technology in accordance with article 4 of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Egypt understood Iran's viewpoint in this respect.

    But this right was closely related to the state's full transparency with the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the Egyptian top diplomat.

    "It is well known that Israel, which is not an NPT member, has nuclear capabilities not open to international inspection," Abul Gheit said, adding that Egypt was seeking to change this through international and regional initiatives.

    Abul Gheit lashed out at what he called as "double standards" of some Western powers, who allowed some countries to develop nuclear capabilities while seeking to bar others from the same privilege.

    This has led to an imbalance in the nuclear non-proliferation system, said Abul Gheit.

    The international community should shoulder responsibility and press Israel to join the NPT and open its nuclear facilities to international inspectors as a step for rendering the Mideast free from weapons of mass destruction, topped by nuclear arms, said he.

    Although it is widely believed that Israel began developing nuclear weapons in the 1960s, Israel has declined to confirm or deny its nuclear weapon capabilities, insisting that Israel would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East.