Iran to hold nuclear disarmament confab

An Iranian foreign ministry official has announced plans to hold the country’s second international conference on global nuclear disarmament in 2011.

“The [nuclear disarmament] summits are in line with efforts to expand cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other nations… They are usually held annually, but if an extraordinary issue emerges, additional meetings will be held,” Mostafa Dolatyar told ISNA.

The foreign ministry official added that technical issues are discussed in these summits and said the “feedback we have received… shows these summits are considered productive and that is why they have requested that such meetings be held more.”

Iran hosted a two-day summit on nuclear non-proliferation in Tehran on April 18-19 last year.

The conference was attended by representatives from dozens of countries as well as nuclear disarmament experts and representatives from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO).

Western countries have pressed Iran to cease its uranium enrichment activities and accuse the country of pursuing a military nuclear program.

The Iranian government refutes the allegations and stresses that the enrichment program is part of Tehran’s civilian nuclear energy program, which is in compliance with Article IV of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.