Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday said Tehran should cooperate with the international community to ease concerns over its nuclear ambitions and improve regional tensions, including in Iran's neighbor, Iraq.
He also cautioned North Korea against any "gesture" which could hurt any negotiations to resolve the crisis over that nation's nuclear agenda, in a possible reference to fears that the country might be readying another test explosion of a nuclear device.
In the Vatican's traditional New Year review of the world's hot spots, Benedict also expressed hope that leaders would take advantage of progress in Israeli-Palestinian relations to forge a negotiated peace.
Benedict used the annual speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See to draw attention to Latin America, which he will visit next spring when he makes a pilgrimage to Brazil. He urged nations to open up to Cuba and more efforts to restore security in Colombia, including an end to the frequent kidnappings there.
While lamenting grim situations in much of the world, the pontiff said there were some signs of hope from the Middle East.
"I renew my urgent appeal to all parties involved in the complex political chessboard of the region, hoping for a consolidation of the positive signs noted in recent weeks between Israelis and Palestinians," the pontiff said.
"A global approach is needed, which excludes no one from the search for a negotiated settlement, taking into account the legitimate aspirations of the different peoples involved," Benedict said.
"In particular, the Lebanese have a right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected; the Israelis have a right to live in peace in their state; the Palestinians have a right to a free and sovereign homeland."
Trust in the region will also improve, Benedict said, if "a country like Iran, especially in relation to its nuclear program, agrees to give a satisfactory response to the legitimate concerns of the international community."
That "would surely help to stabilize the whole region, especially Iraq, putting an end to the appalling violence which disfigures that country with bloodshed," the pontiff added.
He also lamented that "dangerous sources of tension are lurking in the Korean Peninsula."
"The goal of reconciling the Korean people and maintaining the peninsula as a nuclear-free zone ... must be pursued within the context of negotiations," and any success from the talks must not be linked to humanitarian aid for needy North Koreans, the pontiff said.
North Korea's nuclear test on Oct. 9 triggered alarm around the world and prompted the U.N. Security Council to adopt harsh sanctions against the North Korean regime.
Benedict said North Korea should "avoid gestures that could compromise" talks, a possible reference to any future test explosion.
Under Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, the Holy See lobbied against economic sanctions as a weapon in political disputes, and Benedict in his speech quoted John Paul on Cuba in appealing to the world to open up to the communist island nation.
"Let Cuba open itself to the world and let the world open itself to Cuba," Benedict said.
The pontiff, noting, that several Latin American countries held elections in 2006, said that "democracy is called to take into account the aspirations of its citizens as a whole, and to promote increasing respect for all the components of society" according to principles of solidarity and justice.
"Yet the practice of democracy must not be allowed to turn into the dictatorship of relativism" that goes against human dignity, Benedict said, without naming countries.
Among the Latin American countries holding elections last year were Venezuela and Bolivia, both of which have had tense relations with the United States, the dominating power in the Americas.
Benedict said all efforts must be made to bring peace to kidnapping-plagued Colombia, which has been wracked by years of guerrilla war.
Much of the tensions in the developing world, like Latin America and Africa, and between poor and wealthy nations are linked to economic issues, including oil resources.
Without singling out any place, the pontiff said that rich countries must help poor ones to benefit from the fruit of the poor countries' own resources, "that are rightfully theirs."
He also expressed hope for resumption of the so-called Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks, which are aimed at addressing problems of globalization, and called for the acceleration of debt cancellation and reduction for the poorest countries.
Benedict noted that in Asia, the Christian community is small, and he defended Asian Christians' "legitimate desire" to live in a climate of religious freedom.
In countries like China they have suffered persecution, a cause of tension for the Vatican in its efforts to improve relations with Beijing.