Khatami's appeal on Friday in the Indian capital, New Delhi, came 24 hours before the UN Security Council was set to slap new sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend all uranium enrichment activity.

"Iran will never go for nuclear weapons," Khatami told a media conference in the city, according to the Indian Express newspaper.

"Weapons of mass destruction have never been our objective," he said.

Iran was always ready to give an "objective guarantee" on its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and the issue should be solved "through negotiations," he added.

The "sensitive" region, which is already facing many problems over Iraq and Palestine, does not need another crisis, he said.

Khatami reiterated that Iran was pursuing its nuclear energy programme to meet its energy requirements.

"We have a huge reserve of oil and natural gas but it won't last long. Many countries in the world see fossil fuels as harmful and are looking for replacements," he said.

"Nuclear energy is the most accessible form of energy. We must also make use of wind and solar energy, said Khatami, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later in the day.

Nuclear-armed and energy-hungry India, which has long-standing ties with Iran, has repeatedly called for dialogue to resolve the row over Tehran's suspected nuclear ambitions.

India, Pakistan and Iran are engaged in talks to build a 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline for Iranian natural gas.

However, earlier this month India banned all imports and exports to and from Iran that could contribute to Tehran's nuclear programme as a result of sanctions against Iran imposed by the Security Council in December.

Security Council members reached broad agreement late Friday on a draft resolution expanding the December sanctions after Iran spurned demands to freeze its sensitive nuclear fuel work.

The draft resolution would ban Tehran from exporting arms, calls for voluntary trade sanctions and expands a list of officials and companies targeted for financial and travel restrictions.

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