TURKEY tr-diplomacy

Arab League chief unveils plan for Iran forum that includes Turkey

ISTANBUL — From wire dispatches | 3/28/2010 12:00:00 AM |

The head of the Arab League urged the 22-nation bloc on Saturday to engage Iran directly over concerns about its growing influence in the region and its disputed nuclear program.

Amr Moussa outlined his plan for closer ties with Iran, saying it would involve a forum for regional cooperation and conflict resolution that would include Iran and Turkey - both non-Arab nations.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan immediately endorsed the proposal at the summit.

But the proposal could undermine U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate Tehran amid concerns that its nuclear program aims to develop atomic weapons. It also comes as the U.S. and other Western powers push for a fresh round of sanctions over Iran's nuclear defiance. Tehran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.

"I realize that some are worried about Iran but that is precisely why we need the dialogue," Moussa said.

The push to engage Tehran seems to be at least partly fueled by Arab frustration over Washington's failure to get Israel to back down on plans for more Jewish settlements on land the Palestinians want for a future state.

It also suggests that Arab nations are increasingly less likely to align with the U.S. strategy on Iran if they feel they are getting nothing in return in Mideast peace efforts.

[HH] Erdoğan rejects new sanctions against Iran

In an interview with a German magazine out Monday, Erdoğan again rejected the idea of imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Erdoğan's comments come ahead of a visit to Turkey on Monday and Tuesday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has held out the possibility of additional sanctions against Iran.

"We must first try to find a diplomatic solution," Erdoğan told Spiegel magazine. "What we need here is diplomacy, and then more diplomacy."

The Turkish leader said "everything else threatens world peace."

Merkel on Saturday reaffirmed her country's position on the Iranian nuclear crisis in a video message on her Web site.

"If Iran does not show proof of transparency on nuclear energy issues, we [must] also think about sanctions," she said.

Western powers suspect Tehran is making a nuclear bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, but Iran denies these accusations, saying the goal is to generate electricity.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — the five veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members — plus Germany have been negotiating with Iran over its uranium enrichment program.

Turkey, which has good relations with its neighbor Iran, has offered to host an exchange of Iran's low-enriched uranium, or LEU, with 20 percent enriched uranium to be supplied by world powers to Tehran as part of a U.N.-drafted deal.

Compiled from AP and AFP reports by Daily News staff.