"Suppose we have a nuclear weapon, our nuclear weapon of course will not be as good as those developed by the Russians, nor will it be able to compete with the nuclear weapons of Israel and by extension of the US," Ali Akbar Salehi told Iran Daily.

Furthermore, Salehi emphasised that Iran "has absolutely no problem with India or Pakistan".

"A country like Iran cannot have prestige by acquiring nuclear weapons. I think a country like Iran would raise more threats against it, and not get security, by having nuclear weapons," he argued.

"We cannot buy more security by having nuclear weapons, only invite more threats against ourselves," said Salehi, whose tenure at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was marked by increasing suspicions that Iran is seeking the bomb.

The United States and Israel accuse Iran of using an atomic energy programme as a cover for the development of nuclear weapons, a charge Iran angrily denies.

Salehi, who was Iran's envoy to the IAEA for five years up to late last year, did however stress in the interview that civil nuclear power was a matter of national prestige.

"If a country has access to the cutting edge nuclear technology, it can be proud," said the former envoy, now a top advisor to the regime on national security and nuclear issues.

"Take Switzerland which has about six million people. Can one compare this country with the volume of knowledge and technology it has with another country that can hardly feed its people but boasts that it has a nuclear bomb," Salehi told the paper.

The IAEA's board is to hold a fresh meeting on Iran next Monday, amid fresh concerns the clerical regime has been hiding important aspects of its nuclear programme.

WAR.WIRE