TEHRAN, June 9: Iran would be less safe if it acquired nuclear weapons because it cannot hope to match the arsenals of existing nuclear powers such as Israel and the United States, the Islamic republic's former envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"Suppose we have a nuclear weapon, our nuclear weapon of course will not be as good as those developed by the Russians, nor will it be able to compete with the nuclear weapons of Israel and by extension of the US," Ali Akbar Salehi told Iran Daily.

Furthermore, Mr Salehi emphasized that Iran "has absolutely no problem with India or Pakistan". "A country like Iran cannot have prestige by acquiring nuclear weapons.

I think a country like Iran would raise more threats against it, and not get security, by having nuclear weapons," he argued. "We cannot buy more security by having nuclear weapons, only invite more threats against ourselves," said Mr Salehi. -AFP