Iran advises UN 'restraint' over nuclear sanctions

Iran called Saturday on the UN Security Council to "exercise restraint" when reviewing a package of marginally tougher sanctions next week over Tehran's contested nuclear programme.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran could "not understand" why the new measures were being proposed before the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, makes its report on Tehran's nuclear activities in March.
The package was agreed by foreign ministers of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.
"We advise them to exercise restraint ... until the final report of the IAEA comes out," Mottaki told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"The shared objective is the clarification of the ambiguities that have been insinuated by some parties and answering questions raised by the IAEA," he added.
Despite a four-year probe into Tehran's atomic drive, the IAEA has so far been unable to determine whether the programme is peaceful.
On January 13, the UN watchdog announced that Iran had agreed to clear up remaining questions on its nuclear programme -- including any military activity -- in four weeks.