Indonesia's president to discuss Iran's nuclear program during Tehran visit

The Associated Press , Jakarta | Fri, 03/07/2008 1:00 AM | Headlines

Indonesia's president will travel to Iran next week to discuss Tehran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the United Nations, a government spokesman said Thursday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - whose nation abstained from voting when the U.N. Security Council approved a new round of sanctions against Tehran on Monday - was scheduled to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Yudhoyono will urge Iran to be transparent and to cooperate with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, his spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal, said.

But Djalal said Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - would continue to "support Iran's efforts to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."

The latest U.N. Security Council resolution authorized a third set of sanctions targeting individuals, companies and equipment that could be used in Iran's nuclear program. It was adopted Monday by a vote of 14-0.

Iran dismissed the sanctions as "worthless" and vowed to continue uranium enrichment, a key process that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or a warhead for a bomb.

Ahmadinejad said Tehran, which denies it is seeking to build weapons, would end talks with the EU's chief negotiator.

Yudhoyono will be in Iran on Monday and Tuesday and then will travel to Senegal and the United Arab Emirates to attend the 11th Organization of the Islamic Conference, Djalal said. (***)

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