Kazakhstan recommends Iran borrow its nuke experience - minister

TEHRAN, IRAN - Kazakhstan recommends that Iran borrow its nuclear experience and insists Iran should openly cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev said recently after his visit to Tehran.

"We believe that Iran's nuclear problem affects the interests not only of the Central Asian countries, but also that of the world community. Kazakhstan as a country that voluntarily gave up nuclear arms in exchange for international security guarantees provided by the permanent members of the UN Security Council has the right to show sincere interest [in resolving] Iran's nuclear problem," he said.

"At the talks with Iranian officials, we recommended they take into consideration Kazakhstan's experience," the Kazakh foreign minister said.

"We say this not only to the Iranians, but also to the other interested parties," Tokayev added.

He recalled that during his recent visit to Kazakhstan US Vice President Richard Cheney described the example of Kazakhstan as unique and pointed out that Iran should take it into consideration.

Answering the question as to how Kazakhstan assessed Iran's nuclear activities, Tokayev said that Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad assured him that "Iran's defence doctrine envisages no nuclear weapons production".

"Ahmadinezhad said to me that all concerns over Iran's nuclear problem are groundless," he said.