Russia Urges International Community to Act “Proportionately†on Iran
Russia
International Relations
Nuclear Power
UN
Iran
Bushehr project
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Sergei Lavrov
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International action over Tehran’s nuclear program must be in proportion to the real situation in Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, the Reuters news agency reports.
“It is necessary to act on Iran but that action should be in direct proportion to what is really happening,†RIA Novosti news agency quoted Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.
“And what is really happening is what the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports to us. And the IAEA is not reporting to us about the presence there of a threat to peace and security,†the minister stressed.
French UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere told journalist earlier that the European powers were going to put forward a draft UN Security Council resolution during the course of this week.
According to the media reports, the resolution would impose limited sanctions, including bans on nuclear and missile cooperation.
Six countries — U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany offered Iran a package of economic incentives and political rewards in June 2006 if it agreed to consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and commit to a freeze on uranium enrichment before talks to discuss details of their package, the Associated Press reported.
But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly said his country would continue enrichment, and is not intimidated by the possibility of sanctions.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has led talks on behalf of the six nations, said he spoke to top Iranian negotiation Ali Larijani on Monday but “the situation hasn’t changed,†and Iran continues to refuse to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.
“We have to see if we can overcome the situation that makes it impossible to start negotiations,†he said.
Solana’s negotiations with Tehran were seen as a final bid to avoid a full-blown confrontation between Iran and the U.N. after it ignored an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend enrichment or face punishment.
The United States has called for broad sanctions, such as a total ban on missile and nuclear technology sales, while the Russians and Chinese back prohibitions of selected items as a first step.
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