French President calls on India to convince Tehran on nuclear issue

Visiting French President Francois Hollande on Friday said that India could play a pivotal role in convincing Iran to enter a serious negotiation and abide by the international agreements of non-nuclear proliferation.

Addressing a gathering here, Hollande said that India's influence on Iran could act as a catalyst and lead Iran to enter the non-proliferation treaty.

"I know that, for multiple reasons, India is close to Iran and its people. India's influence is very important here because it can help to convince the leaders of Iran to enter a serious negotiation, and to bring Iran to respect the international agreements of non-nuclear proliferation," he said.

In the past, India had not gone along with new financial sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union to punish Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.

Iran had also not cut oil supplies to India despite warning refiners it could do so if months of unpaid bills are not settled soon.

The U.N. watchdog has been trying since January last year to negotiate a framework with Iran that would let inspectors resume a long-stalled inquiry into suspected atom bomb research by the Islamic Republic.

The United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are due to meet Iran for separate talks in Kazakhstan on February 26 to tackle a decade-old row that has already produced four rounds of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Tehran says intelligence information pointing to nuclear weapons research in Iran is forged and baseless. (ANI)