Bali: Iran's president has won support from fellow Muslim leaders for his contested uranium enrichment program, as he told the world there was no reason to be nervous about his nuclear ambitions.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was willing to hold talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear agenda but not with Israel or countries that hold ''bombs over our head.''
Ahmadinejad also said on Saturday he has cooperated fully with the UN nuclear agency and the world has nothing to fear from his program to enrich uranium, which can be used for generating electricity or in making atomic weapons.
The hardline leader spoke after meeting with heads of state and prime ministers from Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey and Malaysia and government ministers from Egypt and Bangladesh.
Though they were on the Indonesian resort island of Bali to discuss ways to boost economic and political cooperation, alleviate poverty and restructure debt, it was impossible to ignore Iran's intensifying nuclear stalemate with the West.
Washington and its allies fear Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons. But Ahmadinejad insists his nuclear program is only for generating electricity and accuses the West of greedily trying to monopolize nuclear technology.
He received a boost Saturday from the eight Islamic leaders, who released a statement after their D-8 summit of developing nations supporting the rights of countries to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
''Our people need to do more to help one another,'' Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, adding that ''proud'' Islamic countries should work together to develop renewable and alternative energy sources.
Much of Ahmadinejad's work was done on the sidelines of the trade talks, meeting privately with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Fears that Iran is trying to build nuclear warheads were aggravated Friday, when diplomats said UN inspectors may have found traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment from an Iranian research center linked to the military.
The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging the confidential information, initially said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads.
But later a well-placed diplomat accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency said the level was below that, although higher than the low-enriched material used to generate power and heading toward weapons-grade level.
The Bush administration had been pressing for UN Security Council action against Tehran but recently agreed to put such efforts on hold and give new European-led attempts to find a negotiated solution.
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