LAHORE, May 7: Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri has reiterated that controversy on Iran’s nuclear programme should be resolved diplomatically, and military or violent means should not be used in any case.

Talking to a TV channel on Sunday, he said the Iraq experience had established that the IAEA provided a better mechanism to remove suspicions of the international community about Iran’s nuclear programme. He said the role of the IAEA should be expanded.

He said Iran was a signatory to the NPT under which it had some rights as well as obligations. He said Tehran should honour its obligations and be given its rights under the NPT.

He recalled that Iran’s supreme leader had said it time and again that his country regarded nuclear weapons un-Islamic.

Answering a question, he said Pakistan had already deployed 80,000 troops along its border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border movement. He said now it was for Afghanistan and the United States to take further steps to check the same, if needed.

He said at a meeting in Baku, he had discussed with his Afghan counterpart the state of bilateral cooperation.

Mr Kasuri said in case Afghanistan had any problem, it could take it up with the tripartite commission comprising representatives of Afghanistan, the United States and Pakistan.