Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov on Friday sought political and diplomatic efforts to
resolve the nuclear issue of Iran, as Premier Vladimir Putin
announced commission Bushehr nuclear power plant there.
After his talks with the visiting US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton this evening, where the Iran nuclear issue
figured, Lavrov said the dispute could still be resolved
through diplomacy.
"We discussed Iran's nuclear program. We have the same
objectives as our American partners - not to allow violations
of the nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime, to eliminate
the concerns about Iran's nuclear activity and to provide for
full cooperation between Iran and the IAEA," Lavrov said at a
joint press conference with Clinton.
He said any possible sanctions against Iran must be aimed
solely at preventing any violation of nuclear
non-proliferation treaty (NPT), of which Tehran is a
signatory.
"These demands (of sanctions) are aimed at achieving one
goal, namely: not to allow any violation of the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty.
This was the only purpose of the sanctions issued
previously against Iran by the United Nations Security
Council. And any new discussion of Iran in the UN SC should
stick to this criterion," Lavrov underscored.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 23:06