Egypt's position on Iran nuclear development

Egypt noted it is "closely monitoring the latest developments of Iran's nuclear file. Britain, Germany and France have called for holding a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors to refer Iran's nuclear file to the UNSC," Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said Monday.

A government report said: In statements Monday, he said Egypt is keen on promoting all efforts aimed at enhancing the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction not only on the regional level, but also on the international plane.

He referred to an IAEA Board of Directors meeting in 2003, when Egypt asserted that all countries had to honor their pledges in a way that would help the international community verify the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program.

Abul-Gheit said that IAEA is the technical body in charge of verifying how far countries do abide by their pledges according to an agreement signed by the agency and Iran.

"Egypt continues to hold on to its position, namely, that dialogue is the best way to avert the current crisis," he added.

"And there are many factors that are available that can help overcome it, the Russian proposal to enrich Iranian uranium on its soil being one of them," he said.

"The fast development of the Iranian nuclear file asserts the importance of implementing Egypt's initiative to render the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons," he added.

"The time has come for the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards taking practical steps to implement this initiative according to a set time-table rather than a selective policy that has proven futile," he said.

"Maybe the first of these steps is Israel's joining the NPT and putting its nuclear facilities under IAEA monitoring and allowing nuclear watchdog experts to inspect its nuclear establishments," Abul-Gheit added.

Abul-Gheit meanwhile, underlined the importance of boosting dialogue with the US as part of efforts to introduce reforms to the United Nations.