Bahrain and other regional countries have backed the creation of a world nuclear fuel bank under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said the such a project was worth considering.

He said the civilian nuclear-fuel bank could be an important step forward in negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue.

"It can also address Iran's concerns about security of fuel supply, serve as a first step towards efforts to prevent the abuse of nuclear-fuel-cycle technology and could help realise a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East," said Shaikh Khalid at a major regional security conference being held in Bahrain.

He said Iran had the same right as any other country, including those in the GCC, to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but it was important to be transparent.

The P5+1 group will meet with Iran next week and this was a real window for relieving this area from a cause of much tension and instability, he said.

"What lies at the very heart of the issue, is not so much that engagement or sanctions are the wrong approach, rather that neither side's proposal is acceptable to the other," said Shaikh Khalid.

"More simplistically, there are diametrically differing views on the issue that uranium enrichment capability can be adapted to develop nuclear weapon material.

"Enrichment is the key word here and this is what should be addressed."

Shaikh Khalid was a panel speaker at the three-day Manama Dialogue conference, which concludes at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa today.

Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was in agreement with the creation of a fuel bank and supported the idea.

However, considering that Iran is a fuel producer, a branch of that bank would be established in Iran, he said.

Mottaki said Iran had been accused of seeking to build nuclear weaponry and this was not true and inspections had proved this.

He said Iran had gone through six months of sanctions, which had no impact on the country. "We have never been a supporter of the use of force or ever had weapons of mass destruction, we believe the era of the atomic bomb has ended and the only use of an atomic bomb is desolation," said Mottaki.

"There must be demilitarisation of weapons worldwide."

Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was also in favour of an international nuclear fuel bank, but said a monopoly of that power must be avoided otherwise it would create future problems. - TradeArabia News Service