US to 'closely watch' G-15 Summit in Tehran

Washington, May 15 (PTI) The US has said it will
"closely watch" the G-15 Summit in Tehran, which will be
attended by developing nations, including India, and expressed
little hope that the group's members would be able to convince
Iran to change its course on its nuclear programme.
"We'll be watching closely to meetings that occur in
Tehran this weekend," State Department spokesman P J Crowley
told reporters here.
When asked whether US has reached out to India at any
level on Iran's nuclear programme, he said: "Not to my
knowledge."
India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is
scheduled to visit Iran for the G-15 summit on May 17, and is
likely to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Monucherr
Mottaki.
The G-15, a group of 17 developing countries from
Asia, Africa and Latin America, will meet in Tehran to discuss
economic cooperation among member nations and to review
international developments.
The Summit in Tehran comes at a time when the US and
its allies are pressing for fresh UN sanctions on Iran over
its nuclear programme.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that she
is not expecting much progress in this weekend's Tehran visit
of the leaders from Turkey and Brazil -- both non-permanent
members of the UN Security Council.
US is also concerned over the multi-billion dollar
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.
The 1,100-km pipeline has been on the drawing board
since the mid-1990s, when Iran and India inked preliminary
agreements to transport gas through Pakistan. It was dubbed
the "Peace Pipeline" because of hopes it would lead to a
detente between neighbours India and Pakistan. PTI LKJ
MRD