Iran said on Tuesday that foreign ministers from 15 countries will take part in a two-day nuclear disarmament conference to be held in Tehran on April 17 and 18.

The Tehran conference comes just days after Washington's high-profile nuclear security summit which is being attended by 46 world leaders. Iran, which is at loggerheads with the United States, is not attending that summit.

"Foreign ministers from 15 countries and more than 200 foreign guests will take part in the Tehran conference," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters. He did not name the countries attending the meeting.

He said the conference was being held following a "collective will of some independent and free-willed nations to genuinely confront the use of nuclear weapons in today's world."

Mehmanparast dismissed the Washington summit, saying the host was the holder of one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world.

"Our people doubt such theatrical meetings as some nations have nuclear weapons, have used them, want to retain their arsenal and have impudently threatened to use them against other nations," he said, referring to Washington which last week unveiled its new nuclear policy.

The policy limits Washington's use of its nuclear arsenal, but singles out Iran and North Korea as exceptions, a move which has angered Iranian officials.

In recent months, Washington has spearheaded global efforts to impose new sanctions against Tehran for refusing to abandon its nuclear programme.

Western countries suspect the programme is aimed at making weapons, a charge vehemently denied by Tehran.

Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions.

earlier related report
New US nuclear policy is 'state terrorism': Iran envoy
United Nations (AFP) April 12, 2010 - Iran's UN ambassador on Monday blasted US President Barack Obama's new nuclear policy as "state terrorism" for not ruling out using nuclear arms against the Islamic republic.

"Can the US new nuclear strategy which authorizes the use of nuclear bomb against other countries, including Iran, be named other than 'state terrorism,' in its truest sense?" Mohammad Khazaee said in a statement to a General Assembly panel mulling measures to eliminate international terrorism.

"Isn't it a clear manifestation of large-scale state terrorism to publicly and shamelessly threaten a sovereign state, which is a member of the United Nations and a party to the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), with nuclear bombs?"

In a policy shift, Washington said last week it would only use atomic weapons in "extreme circumstances" and would not attack non-nuclear states -- but singled out "outliers" Iran and North Korea as exceptions.

On Sunday Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also slammed Obama for threatening a "nuclear attack" on his country.

And a foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran said the country would officially complain to the United Nations regarding Obama's "threats" after 225 lawmakers asked Tehran to take up the issue.

In his statement to the ad hoc panel, Khazaee also said a "consensual definition" of terrorism should strengthen international cooperation against this scourge and "end any ambiguity concerning this term."

He said such a definition should be "objective and include all forms of terrorist acts, including those terrorist acts and extrajudicial killings perpetrated by states' military, sometimes disguised as targeted killings."

And in a clear reference to the Palestinians, Khazaee said there should be a "clear distinction between heinous acts of terrorism and legitimate struggle of peoples under foreign occupation for restoring their fundamental right of self-determination."

Khazaee's comments came just hours before Obama opened a two-day international conference Monday on improving nuclear security featuring the leaders of 47 nations.

Iran and North Korea were not invited.