April 06, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 5: Speaker of the Iranian consultative assembly Dr Gholam Ali Haddad Adel on Thursday said the top leadership of Pakistan in a series of meetings with him had assured that Pakistan would not take part in a possible US-led attack on Iran.

He was speaking at a press conference after meeting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz who had just arrived from New Delhi. Mr Adel also met President Gen Pervez Musharraf, federal ministers and senior officials.

Asked if Pakistan had also given an assurance that it would not allow use of its soil for any attack and that it would not provide logistic support to the US like it did in the case of attack on Afghanistan, he said such details were not discussed because the threat of a US attack was not very serious.

He said the stand taken by Pakistan on Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the United States was positive and Iran had no concerns in this regard.

Answering a question, he denied formation of any Iran-India axis against Pakistan or any other country.

He welcomed a decision by Pakistan and India to pursue the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project and disclosed that work on the project would start before July. “It won’t go beyond July,” he told a questioner.

He hoped that relations between Pakistan and India would be normalised and said it was good to see the tension between the two countries decreasing. He thanked Pakistan for supporting Iran in getting the status of “observer” at Saarc.

Commenting on media reports that Pakistani militants were carrying out operations inside Iran with the US support, he said the US spared no effort to put pressure on Iran. He, however, said there was no evidence or reason to believe that Pakistan’s military establishment was abetting terrorists.

Mr Adel said there was no reason for a US military action against Iran. He said Iran was fully prepared to fight back in case of any aggression against it. “We have the capacity and determination to do it,” he said. He said the US was trying to cover up its failure in Iraq.

He said the US had gained nothing from military actions against Afghanistan and Iraq, and would get nothing if Iran was made a target.

He said Iran had no intention to use nuclear energy for military purposes. He said the nuclear capability was meant purely for peaceful purposes and the nuclear facilities were open for IAEA inspectors.

He said the scientific and technological progress in Iran belonged to the entire Islamic world. He said the resistance in Iran was also not just for Iran but on behalf of the entire Islamic world.

AHMED HASSAN ADDS: Mr Adel stressed the need for unity among Muslim states and said they should jointly face challenges posed by imperialist forces, trying to divide and target them one by one.

Addressing members of parliament and the Senate’s foreign relations committee on Thursday, he said Iran was determined to execute the gas pipeline project for the greater economic good of the region.

He said: “Iran is resisting global imperialist and antagonist forces on behalf of the entire Muslim world and hopes that other countries will follow our example.”

Mr Adel blamed imperialist powers for dividing the Ummah on the pretext of sectarianism and other petty issues.

He denied allegations that his country was supporting Shia elements in Iraq against the Sunnis, saying that it was unthinkable for Iran because it also had a Sunni population of several million.