TEHRAN - On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki called upon the members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to pay special attention to efforts to place restrictions on the utilization of nuclear energy.

Mottaki, who was speaking at the two-day meeting of the 114-member NAM in Malaysia, called the current attempts by major powers to restrict the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes a serious challenge not only for Iran but for all developing countries.

He urged NAM members to confront this challenge with vigilance, unity, and resistance.

“The Westerners are seeking to deprive the Islamic Republic of Iran of its legal rights by launching extensive propaganda to question the nature of its nuclear program,” he added.

After three years of UN snap checks and inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and Iran’s voluntary cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, it was proven that Iran’s nuclear activities are entirely peaceful, he noted.

NAM issued a draft text on Tuesday which says Tehran is cooperating with nuclear watchdog the IAEA.

"The ministers reaffirmed the inviolability of peaceful nuclear activities and that any attack or threat of attack against peaceful nuclear facilities poses a great danger to human beings and the environment," said part of the draft as carried by Reuters. Asked if Iran was afraid U.S. forces could attack its nuclear facilities, Mottaki told reporters, “They are not in the position to create a new crisis in the region."

"They are in a lot of difficulty in Iraq and Afghanistan," he added.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday made a strong call for NAM to back Iran and accused the West of double-standards, citing inaction over Israel's nuclear weapons program.

Mottaki went on to say that NAM should be bolstered in the United Nations in such a way that it could prevent the major powers from influencing and exploiting the body for their own political ends.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the foreign minister said that Iran welcomes the formation of a new government in Iraq and expressed Tehran’s support for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s cabinet.

“Iran supports the efforts of the new Iraqi government to promote security and stability and reconstruct the neighboring country,” he added.