News

BERLIN: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again rejected the idea of imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme in an interview with a German magazine out Monday.

Erdogan's comments come ahead of a visit to Turkey on Monday and Tuesday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has held out the possibility of additional sanctions against Iran.

"We must first try to find a diplomatic solution," Erdogan told Spiegel magazine. "What we need here is diplomacy, and then more diplomacy."

The Turkish leader said "everything else threatens world peace."

Merkel on Saturday reaffirmed her country's position on the Iranian nuclear crisis in a video message on her Internet site.

"If Iran does not show proof of transparency on nuclear energy issues, we (must) also think about sanctions," she said.

Western powers suspect Tehran is making a nuclear bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, but Iran denies these accusations, saying the goal is to generate electricity.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - the five veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council members - plus Germany have been negotiating with Iran over its uranium enrichment program.

Turkey, which has good relations with its neighbour Iran, has offered to host an exchange of Iran's low-enriched uranium (LEU) with 20 per cent enriched uranium to be supplied by world powers to Tehran as part of a UN-drafted deal.