UPI: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this weekend the United States doesn’t intend to launch military action against Iran. United Press International
MOSCOW, Feb. 5 (UPI) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this weekend the United States doesn’t intend to launch military action against Iran.
Instead, the Bush administration wants to work with the Russian government to seek a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, Lavrov said Saturday according to a report carried by the RIA Novosti news agency.
“The United States assured us (Russia) that it has no plans to wage war against Iran and the presence of supplementary (military) forces in the Persian Gulf region helps to stabilize the situation in the region,” Sergei Lavrov said after a visit to the U.S. capital, where he participated in a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East negotiators: the United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States.
“We have agreed to continue working within the U.N. Security Council to bring back Iran to the negotiating table using diplomatic measures of influence on Tehran,” Lavrov said.
“Russia, a key economic partner of Iran, has consistently supported the country’s right to nuclear power under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite international accusations that the Islamic Republic aims to direct its nuclear program toward building weapons,” RIA Novosti said.
On Dec. 23, the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1737 approved economic sanctions against Iran to prevent it from continuing to enrich uranium, carry out chemical reprocessing activities and produce heavy water necessary to make weapons-grade nuclear materials, and to prevent it from producing its own nuclear weapons delivery systems.
“Tehran responded to the resolution by saying it would review its cooperation with the IAEA and on Jan. 23 barred 38 IAEA experts from inspecting Iran’s nuclear facilities. The IAEA is expected to file a new report on Iran’s nuclear program Feb. 23,” RIA Novosti said.
