Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Recep Tayyip Erdogan downplayed Western concerns that Iran wants to build nuclear weapons as "gossip", and implied that the accusers were guilty of hypocrisy.

"There is a style of approach which is not very fair because those (who accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons) have very strong nuclear infrastructures and they don't deny that," he said.

"The permanent members of the UN Security Council all have nuclear arsenals and then there are countries which are not members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which also have nuclear weapons.

"So although Iran doesn't have a weapon, those who say Iran shouldn't have them are those countries which do."

Erdogan also said a military strike against Iranian nuclear installations would be "crazy", according to the newspaper.

"If the idea is to devastate Iran or somehow erase it altogether I don't think that would be right," he added.

"On the one hand you say you want global peace, on the other hand you are going to have such a destructive approach to a state which has 10,000 years of history. It is not correct."

Turkey, a NATO member, has in recent years improved ties with Iran, its eastern neighbour, and sought to help resolve the nuclear dispute.

Erdogan said of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "There is no doubt he is our friend. We have kept very good relations and we have had no difficulty at all."

The interview was published as UN inspectors were expected to conduct more checks on Iran's controversial second uranium enrichment plant to verify whether the facility was designed for peaceful nuclear purposes.