News Brief

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday once again defended Iran's nuclear program, saying that any country criticizing Tehran and demanding sanctions was acting "arrogantly," unless that country first gave up its own nuclear program. "Those who criticize Iran's nuclear program continue to possess the same weapons," Erdogan said on Turkish TV. "I think that those who take this stance, who want these arrogant sanctions, need to first give these [weapons] up. We shared this opinion with our Iranian friends, our brothers."

Erdgogan added that he wanted to see all nuclear weapons eliminated from the Middle East. "We want to live in a region completely purged of nuclear weapons. We want to live in a world in which nuclear weapons no longer exist," he said.