Khatami: dialogue is best solution to solve Iran's nuclear controversy

May 6, 2007

Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami met with Massimo D'Alema, the foreign minister of Italy, where he stated that dialogue is a sine qua non to resolving the impasse over Iran's nuclear activities.

Khatami said, "The Iranian nation will by no means abandon its nuclear rights." He cited the "consensus among Iranian authorities on the country's right to access nuclear technology" and said that sanctions against Iran would not be effective.

Khatami also called for dialogue in two additional areas: On Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine to end the Middle East conflicts, and on Islam. In fact, since leaving the Iranian presidency in 2005, he has started his own NGO and fully dedicated his time to promoting peace and understanding as the head of Center for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations.

With respect to the Middle East conflicts, Khatami stated to Ferdinando Casini, the head of the world's Inter-Parliamentary Union, that these problems cannot be solved by excluding Iran, "[the] International community needs Iran for creating and maintaining stability and tranquility in the region and this idea that the conflict in the ME can be solved without Iran's presence is a wrong conception." On Saturday, he delivered an address at a Rome University where he used the pulpit to dispel misunderstandings concerning Islam. He said, "Islam is a religion of peace and tranquility." He has called peace a virtue and wants world politicians to seek any "ideology that breeds peace".