Malaysia tells US not to push Iran to the wall

WASHINGTON: Malaysia, which chairs the world’s biggest grouping of Muslim countries, urged the United States on Monday to be patient in dealing with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. “Let us not put Iran to the wall. If you put Iran to the wall, we do not know what would be the effect,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said when answering a question at a US-Malaysia forum in Washington. He said the world would not want the Iranian nuclear issue to blow up into an Iraq-like conflict. “We have seen too much difficulty” with the US-led war in Iraq and “we do not want to see another situation where we are confronted with an open conflict which is difficult to manage subsequently,” Syed Hamid said. Malaysia is the current chair of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation board of governors on Saturday adopted a resolution that threatens to take Iran before the United Nations Security Council for violations of international non-proliferation rules. Syed Hamid said that in dealing with Iran, the United States should emulate the negotiation style used at attempting to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive. “It is better that Iran be engaged in negotiations. I know the frustration of negotiations and dialogue,” Syed Hamid said, citing the six-party Korean nuclear talks “that took so long but have been put on track.” afp

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