Sunday, February 19 2006 14:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Two days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh explained why India voted against Iran at the IAEA, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed today (Feb 19 2006) left for Tehran on a three-day tour during which the nuclear issue is expected to come up for discussion.

Ahamed's visit and his meeting with Iranian counterpart Mehedi Safari will mark the first high-level contact between the two countries since the February 2-4 IAEA meeting where India joined 26 other countries in favouring report of Tehran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council in March.

"Although the minister is visiting Iran for the meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim countries, he will meet Safari and the nuclear issue is expected to figure in the discussions," diplomatic sources said here.

Ahamed is also expected to meet some other Iranian leaders during his three-day stay there, they said.

The visit assumes significance as it comes two days after the Prime Minister told Parliament that India's vote against Iran at the IAEA was shaped by New Delhi's security concerns and that it could not afford to turn a blind eye to the implications of clandestine proliferation of sensitive technology "in our own neighbourhood".

With the Left parties breathing down the government's neck over its anti-Iran stance at the IAEA, he said the sensitive issue of Tehran's rights could be addressed through calm and reasoned diplomacy and India would support diplomatic efforts in this regard, drawing on its friendly relations with all the key countries involved.