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New York: Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned on Thursday that military action against Iran would be "a real disaster" and the Middle East could explode if the international community does not handle the many conflicts in the region very carefully.
On Iran's dispute with the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme, Annan said he did not have enough information to determine whether Iran's the programme is peaceful - as Tehran maintains.
He said he told the Iranians that "if indeed you have nothing to hide and you are not making a bomb and your intentions are pacific, open your doors, let the inspectors come, let them go anywhere - find a way of reassuring the world, not just the US ... that you have no intention of producing nuclear weapons." How should the Iranian issue be tackled? "I really do not see any other solution than the continued negotiations and the dialogue that is going on," he said.
"We cannot, I'm sure, take on another military action in Iran, and I hope no one is contemplating it. It would be a real disaster," Annan stressed.
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