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London, Feb 7, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi here Thursday renewed Iran's call for peaceful resolution of the Iraqi crisis, saying there was still room for diplomatic settlement of the standoff and that a second UN Security Council resolution would be helpful.
"We are living in a very crucial time and we have to do our best to resolve this crisis without the necessity of using force," he told reporters during a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at the end of a one-day visit to London.
"I believe that the UN system, the Security Council, has the authority to take care of the Iraqi issue. It seems that it is imminent to have another resolution as another means of using diplomatic channels to ask Iraq to comply more fully with the resolution in the Security Council," Kharrazi added.
He also ruled out if Tehran was worried about being next in the line of the US target after Iraq.
"We are not worried because Iran is very different from Iraq.
That was the strategic mistake of the Americans (to lump Iran as part of an 'axis of evil' with Iraq)," he said, adding "we are a democratic country, a popular one and have very good relations with the outside world.
"The democratic process is rapidly progressing in our country and we are ready to engage in dialogue with all countries similar to what we are having with the Europeans.
"The problem with Americans is that they are not ready to establish such a dialogue with us based on mutual respect. They are talking about power and domination," Kharrazi added.
He reiterated Iran's fears of a refugee influx in the event of a US attack on Iraq, saying "we hope a war will not happen because the outbreak of the war would have its own repercussions on all neighboring countries in the region, including Iran.
"The simplest one would be the influx of refugees," he added.
The Islamic Republic has however prepared to settle probable refugees along the borders and help them return home immediately after the war, Kharrazi said.
The Iranian foreign minister warned of Iraq's disintegration in the event of a war, saying "one of the worries of Iraq's neighbors about the outbreak of the war is this issue".
"I believe as well we have to listen to Iraq's version" of events, following US secretary of State Colin Powell's Wednesday speech on
alleged Iraqi deception regarding Baghdad's arms programs, Kharrazi said.
"It is also necessary that we become aware of (arms) experts' views and finally hear the United Nations' view on this," he added.
Kharrazi's reiterated that the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, built with Russian assistance, were intended for peaceful use and there was nothing for Iran to hide.
"Iran has joined different international conventions on the containment and peaceful use of nuclear facilities and related (international) bodies regularly inspect Iran's (nuclear) sites," he said, adding International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, will visit the Islamic Republic next month.
Straw said described Kharrazi's visit as important and an answer to his visits to Tehran for three times over the past two years.
He said he had held helpful and effective talks with the Iranian foreign minister, which focused on Iraq and bilateral issues such as investment and that the two countries looked to promote their interactions.
"Cooperation and collaboration and understanding between our two governments and people's has very greatly improved and deepened," Straw said.
Kharrazi arrived in London Wednesday for a lightning one-day visit. He met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair for 30 minutes at Downing Street to discuss the impending US-led war against Iraq and on other bilateral issues.
The Iranian foreign minister also held talks with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and the chairman of the influential Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Donald Anderson.
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