Russia Has Not Promised Iran to Oppose Sanctions — Minister

MosNews
May. 06, 2006

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia had made no pledges to oppose sanctions against Iran.

In response to remarks from his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, who said that Russia and China “have officially told us ... (of) their opposition to sanctions and military attacks” against the Islamic Republic, Russian Foreign Minister S. Lavrov stressed that Russia has “made no such announcements”.

Moscow had not decided whether Iran poses a threat, and Russia would make that decision only based on the opinion of UN nuclear experts, Lavrov told Reuters.

Russian officials claim that the results of the inspections that were held in Iran do not allow Russian experts to conclude whether Iran has the technology to create weapons of mass destruction, or if it has the intention to do so.

Lavrov spoke a day after discussion started between the five veto-holding members of the UN Security Council, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, over a resolution demanding Iran curb its nuclear ambitions. The countries are still at odds on how to rein in the Iranian nuclear program. The U.S., Britain, France and Germany favor sanctions against Tehran and want the UN Security Council to adopt the resolution by Monday.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged that Tehran would keep up its uranium enrichment. He insists that its program is peaceful in nature, is being undertaken in full accordance with international law and is open to international checks.

Tehran has said it wants to resolve the dispute through diplomatic means, but rejects calls to halt enrichment, which Washington thinks is a prelude to producing nuclear weapons.

Russia has previously opposed sanctions against Tehran, saying they would be counterproductive.