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Iran offers Indonesia nuclear cooperation

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Iran is ready to share its experience in nuclear engineering with Indonesia, the president of the Islamic Republic said on Tuesday.
TEHRAN, March 11 (RIA Novosti) - Iran is ready to share its experience in nuclear engineering with Indonesia, the president of the Islamic Republic said on Tuesday.

"Tehran is ready to make available to Jakarta its achievements and its valuable experience in a variety of fields, including in nuclear engineering, nanotechnology and economics," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a joint news conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is on a two-day official visit to Tehran.

The Iranian head of state also said the two Islamic countries had similar positions on many current international and regional problems. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, although it is not an official Islamic state.

"We have common views on the problems of the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. "Cooperation between Iran and Indonesia benefits both the Islamic world and mankind as a whole."

Yudhoyono urged the international community not to politicize Iran's nuclear program and to permit Tehran to continue its cooperation with the international nuclear watchdog.

"Iran's nuclear program is of a peaceful nature and must not be politicized," he said.

He added that Indonesia, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, was the only country that voted against a recent UN resolution imposing a new round of sanctions against Iran.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution in early February imposing a third round of economic sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

The diplomatic standoff between Iran and the West, which at times has threatened to take on a military nature, began almost six years ago over suspicions that Tehran was secretly developing atomic weapons. Tehran has always maintained that it needs nuclear technology for electricity generation only. Two previous rounds of UN sanctions were imposed on Tehran in December 2006 and March 2007.

Under the new sanctions, the accounts of certain Iranian companies and banks will be frozen, and goods leaving and entering the Islamic Republic will be subjected to inspections. In addition, travel bans have been imposed on five Iranian officials involved in nuclear projects.

The decision by the UN Security Council to impose a new round of sanctions came despite a report by the U.S. intelligence community late last year stating that Iran had ceased attempts to produce a nuclear weapon in 2003.

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