Doha (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Iran is offering its nuclear technology to the Islamic world.  In a meeting yesterday in Qatar with the leaders of the Gulf countries, the Iranian judicial authority - ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi - expressed his country's desire to help other states develop nuclear technology.  "Iran is determined", he said, "to make the best use of this technology not only for Iran but also for all Muslim states".

The move, which both provokes and frightens the West, also reveals the growing influence that the Islamic Republic is exercising in the Middle East.

Despite the fact that the UN continues to rain down sanctions against Tehran's nuclear programme, Iranian president Ahmadinejad publicly announced on Tuesday, April 8, the completed installation of 6,000 new centrifuges - used to enrich uranium - at the nuclear station of Natanz.  The new centrifuges are added to the 3,000 already in place, and are five times as large.

The West fears that the construction of an atomic bomb is behind the development of Iran's nuclear programme, although Iran continues to deny Washington's accusations.  American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has again exhorted Tehran to stop its enrichment program, and has affirmed that "Iran faces continued isolation in the international community because it will not take a reasonable offer from the international community to have another way".

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has also said he is in favour of new sanctions, and the UN security council, which has adopted a fourth resolution against Iran, is asking Javier Solana - head of foreign policy for the European Union - to intervene by meeting with the Iran's spokesman for negotiations on its nuclear programme.

The member states of the United Nations security council with veto power include Russia, which calls Washington's fears excessive, and is proposing, instead of sanctions, a package of incentives that would encourage president Ahmadinejad to suspend the programme for developing nuclear energy.

Meanwhile, the government of Qatar, which welcomed the Iranian ayatollah in Doha, has signed an agreement with Iran for the extradition of prisoners and criminals between the two countries.