Pakistan and Iran Friday rejected reports of any cooperation in the Iranian nuclear program and dismissed all such reports as "part of a malicious smear campaign against Pakistan and Iran." Addressing a joint press conference here at the Foreign Office the foreign ministers of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and his Iranian counterpart Dr Kamal Kharrazi rejected the reports which accused Pakistan of transferring sensitive nuclear technology to Iran.

Kasuri dismissing the reports as "false and inaccurate" said, "Pakistan has never supplied in any manner, whatsoever, any assistance for Iran's nuclear program" Dr Kharrazi said, Iran's nuclear program was "totally peaceful" and there was "no plan for nuclear weapons." He said nuclear weapons were not part of Iran's security doctrine.

He said on the contrary Iran was desirous of having nuclear free zones in the Middle East and the sub-continent. Kharrazi said Iran's nuclear program is "indigenous" and has been developed using "our knowledge and technology." To a question about the inspections of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kharrazi said, "Iran's nuclear installations are already open for inspection."

He said a group of IAEA inspectors had recently visited all the sites they wanted to inspect and took environmental samples. "We did it voluntarily to show our transparency," Kharrazi added. "If they say we are not open, it is a lie...and is politically motivated." The IAEA, he said was supervising all activities of Iran's nuclear program"All our sites and activities are under safeguards."

He said since Iran's nuclear program was quite transparent, it has no objection even for more severe inspections. He said Iran was willing to sign and ratify the 93+2 convention, which will be another proof of our cooperation and openness. Kasuri said Pakistan supports the right of Iran to develop its peaceful nuclear program, concomitant to its adherence of its obligations under the arms control and disarmament agreements that it is party to.

He said, "Pakistan holds that any doubt or disagreement that may arise regarding the implementation of obligations undertaken by States through such arms control and disarmament agreements, should be peacefully resolved through the mechanisms for dispute settlement laid down in the concerned agreements/treaties. "He said, "Pakistan is opposed to coercive measures."

The latest IAEA report, Kasuri said "acknowledges the increased cooperation of Iran, including Iran's decision to being negotiations with the IAEA on an Additional Protocol, and we would like that any remaining issues will be solved during the forthcoming IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna next month, and within the context of continuing IAEA - Iran cooperation."

To a question whether Iran felt threatened in the heavy presence of the US troops in the region, Kamal Kharrazi said, "US always threatened us, (it is) nothing new." However he said, "they know us well and we are different from Iraq." He said the situation in the region requires that all the countries take collective measures and make the region more secure.

Kharrazi replied in affirmative that Iran's nuclear program includes uranium enrichment. He said some of the components that it acquired from "outside" were already used and were contaminated. He said Iran has already informed the IAEA about this contamination. About reports that pointed to cooperation between Iran and India on nuclear know how, Dr Kamal Kharrazi rejected these and repeated "Iran's nuclear program is totally indigenous."

When asked about Israeli Prime Minister's forthcoming visit to India, he said, "Israel is an enemy of not only Iran but every Muslim country." He said, "they seek all opportunities to pressurize Iran and other Muslim countries." Kharrazi said Iran has good relations both with Pakistan and India.

He said the ties with Pakistan need to be further strengthened and his talks had focused on enhanced cooperation in a number of fields. He said Iran's relations with India were not against any third country. To a question about Iraq, he said, the US forces should hand over the control of Iraq to the United Nations and let the people choose their own representatives.

He expressed concern over the security situation in Iraq, the ongoing killings and the overall lawlessness. He said the role of Iraq has been appreciated by the world as "a responsible state."