Visiting Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani called for Turkey's support on Monday over its nuclear issue, Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Turkey may help Iran explain its sincerity on the nuclear issue, Larijani was quoted by Anatolia as saying during a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Noting that Iran attached importance to peace and stability in the Middle East region, Larijani said that Iran did not have any military intentions with its nuclear program.

"Iran has been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and thousands of international experts have inspected the nuclear facilities in Iran," he added.

Larijani's one-day visit to Turkey came as foreign ministers of six nations -- five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany meet in New York on a draft resolution requiring Iran to freeze all uranium enrichment and reprocess activities.

Larijani told Gul that the real goal of the United States was to prevent Muslim countries from acquiring nuclear technology.

"Turkey is a Muslim country. We know that it is respectful and will be respectful of Iran's right to have peaceful nuclear technology," he said.

Turkey has repeatedly said that it backs Iran's pursuit of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but opposes the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to U.S. President George W. Bush as announced by Iran on Monday, Larijani said that the letter was not related to Iran's nuclear program but was about the general assessment of peace in the region.

Gul, on his part, expressed concerns over the recent developments concerning Iran's nuclear issue, stressing that Iran should convince the IAEA of the peaceful purpose of its nuclear program.

Underlining that the nuclear dispute should be solved through diplomacy, Gul called on the Iranian authorities to adopt positive steps.

As for Iran's statements against Israel, Gul said that those statements did damage to the image of Iran in the international community, according to Anatolia.

Ahmadinejad has said that the Holocaust is a "myth" invented by Europe to establish a Jewish state in the Middle East, and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Ahmadinejad's comments have drawn strong condemnation from the United States and Israel, Turkey's two leading allies.

Meanwhile, Gul said that Iran could not be compared with Iraq, which the U.S. invaded in 2003, but urged Iran to take into consideration what had happened to Iraq, according to the report.

Iran has been reiterating that its nuclear program is fully peaceful, categorically denying Washington's accusation of secret nuclear weapon ambition.

Larijani, who visited Turkey upon the invitation of Turkish National Security Council (MGK) Secretary General Yigit Alpogan, also met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Alpogan respectively on Monday.

Source: Xinhua