Indonesia will continue to encourage efforts to reach a peaceful settlement of Iran's nuclear standoff with the West through diplomacy and negotiations, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said here on Friday.

"Whatever they will decide to settle the crisis must of course be made through diplomacy and negotiations," spokesman Desra Percaya said when commenting on Iran's failure to meet a UN Security Council deadline for Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment.

In principle, Indonesia supported any country including Iran to benefit from the development of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes in accordance with article 4 of the Non Proliferation Treaty, he said.

However, if a certain country developed nuclear energy for military purposes rather than for peaceful purposes, Indonesia would be the first country to denounce it, he said.

"It is the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) that has the right to evaluate whether the nuclear activities of a country are for peaceful or military purposes," Antara news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

Therefore, he added, as a country friendly with Iran, Indonesia was calling on Iran to be cooperative with the UN nuclear watchdog which has the right to assess the nuclear program of a nation.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, the charge denied by Tehran, which insists its atomic effort is a peaceful energy program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Thursday that Iran would not allow anyone to violate its nuclear rights.

Earlier, the IAEA said Iran had failed to meet the UN deadline for it to stop enriching uranium by February 21, exposing Tehran to possible wider sanctions over fears it secretly wants to make atomic bombs.

Source: Xinhua