South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad on Saturday launched his visits to Qatar and Iran with the Iranian nuclear issue listed on his schedule.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday that Pahad would meet with Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Abdullah al-Mahmoud, before attending a meeting on cooperation of Indian Ocean Rim countries in Tehran, Iran.

The ministry said issues on the agenda of discussions between Pahad and Al-Mahmoud on Sunday would include, among others, "a briefing on developments in the Gulf region including Iran's nuclear program."

South Africa on Thursday took over the month-long rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council at a time when the world body is discussing fresh sanctions on Iran over its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.

South Africa, which became a non-permanent member of the Security Council in January, has said it supports the right of countries to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and is thought likely to oppose further sanctions.

President Thabo Mbeki met with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, in Pretoria last weekend, but the outcome of their talks was not revealed.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told Xinhua on Saturday that he was "not aware" if Pahad would hold talks with Iranian officials during his visit to Tehran.

Pahad will lead the South African delegation to the 7th Council of Ministers Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) in Tehran, scheduled from Wednesday to Thursday next week, the foreign ministry said.

The discussions would focus on seeking ways in which "the IOR- ARC could be used as vehicle to unlock the vast potential of the region with the population of close to 2 billion people," the ministry said.

The meeting will also elicit ways and means in which trade and investment flows, trade liberalization, as well as the sustainable exploitation of the tourism potential of the members could be enhanced.

The IOR-ARC is a multilateral organization comprised of countries that share a shoreline along the Indian Ocean and was launched in March 1997 in Mauritius with a view to focus mainly on trade-related issues.

The IOR-ARC member states include Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Source: Xinhua