Russia rejects fresh UN measures against Iran
Russia said yesterday it had rejected US proposals for new UN Security Council measures against Iran over its suspect nuclear programme amid deteriorating ties between Moscow and Washington.
The United States and five other powers meeting here Friday are "committed to exploring possible further" sanctions against Iran to halt its sensitive nuclear work, the State Department said.
At a meeting Friday with diplomats from the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, Russia "said it was against the development at this stage of additional measures in the UN Security Council," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The Russian side underlined the necessity of continuing efforts to restore constructive dialogue with Tehran with the aim of moving forward the negotiation process," the statement said after the meeting in Washington.
The White House on Monday warned Iran that it faced possible new sanctions over its failure to stop uranium enrichment, which can be a key step towards making nuclear weapons.
But it said poor relations with Russia -- a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council -- could complicate matters.
Ties between the two have been severely damaged in recent weeks by Washington's sharp criticism of Russia's incursion into neighbouring Georgia, a close US ally.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the West must choose between support of Georgia and Moscow's cooperation on other international issues.
France has echoed the US call for sanctions, but China said such a move would not resolve the stalemate. On Friday, Germany said it still aimed to reach a negotiated settlement with Tehran.
After Friday's meeting, the US State Department had said all six powers were "committed to exploring possible further" sanctions.
The foreign affairs political directors of the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany met to help prepare for a meeting next week of their respective foreign ministers.
The six powers are attempting to convince Iran to halt sensitive nuclear work with an incentives package in exchange for full suspension of uranium enrichment.
"All participants of the meeting expressed their support for the actions of the IAEA and underlined the need for Iran's full and transparent cooperation with the agency," the Russian statement said.
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