Iran's foreign minister called today for a UN-supervised referendum to bring a power transition in Iraq as part of a plan to avert a US-led war against Iraq.
"The Iraqi government should accept and allow a power transition to take place in Iraq under UN supervision," Mr Kamal Kharrazi said.
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"We believe this is a genuine move, that the Iraqi people elect their real representatives in a referendum supervised by the United Nations," he said.
Mr Kharrazi stressed that Iran's proposal was different from a United Arab Emirates proposal to exile Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to avert a war.
"We want a referendum in Iraq under UN supervision and national reconciliation between the Iraqi opposition leaders and the current Iraqi regime," he said.
Mr Kharrazi said Iran had not discussed its proposal with other countries because "we know that no plan from outside Iraq can determine the future government in that country".
Although no friend of Saddam - who launched an attack on Iran in 1980 that led to an eight-year war between the two oil powers - Iran is concerned about the impact a US-led war to topple Saddam would have on the region.