Russia urges Iran to return to nuclear moratorium

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today said that Iran could not hope to resume talks with the European Union unless it returned to the uranium enrichment moratorium it broke this month.

He indicated Moscow was not yet ready to refer Iran to the UN Security Council.

“I fully support the call for the resumption of talks, but in reality it can be done only on condition of continuing the enrichment moratorium, which is mutually acceptable,” Lavrov said.

The Interfax news agency reported that the Iranian Embassy in Moscow had circulated an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement that said Tehran invited the EU to return to negotiations but that the emergency IAEA session scheduled for next month could lead to a new impasse.

“Refusal to hold talks, steps to convene a special session of the IAEA Board of Governors, other methods of applying pressure and threats may lead to a deadlock in this diplomatic process based on mutual understanding and cooperation,” Interfax quoted the statement as saying.

Lavrov also told reporters that sanctions were not the best way to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, and that all nations involved should keep non-proliferation as their main goal.

“Sanctions are not the best or the only way to solve international problems,” Lavrov said.

“Our common efforts should be aimed at getting answers to all the questions, without exception, which were posed by experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Lavrov said that raising the prospect of sanctions was tantamount to “putting the cart before the horse.”

“Our common goal is to ensure the inviolability of the nuclear non-proliferation regime,” he said. “If we all strive for this main goal, we will be able to find a collective approach to solving this issue.”

Russia and China are under pressure from the US and the EU to support a move to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council as a result of its decision to restart its nuclear programme.

Lavrov warned against letting “momentary political considerations” get mixed up with the Iranian nuclear issue.

When asked when Russia would be ready to refer Iran to the Security Council, Lavrov said he did not think the IAEA had exhausted its potential to resolve the crisis, “and the European troika thinks the same.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday also had urged caution, saying Tehran might still agree to Moscow’s offer to move Iran’s uranium enrichment program to Russia – a step offered as a way to resolve the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Gholamreza Ansari, said that Iran considered the proposal “constructive” and that Tehran was still considering it. Lavrov said negotiations with Iran on the initiative would take place in Russia in February, Interfax reported.

He said Iraq should serve as a cautionary example of the potential result of sanctions.

“We remember the history of sanctions against Iraq and know how it all ended. We are still overcoming the consequences of that,” Lavrov said.

Diplomats in London announced plans to call for an emergency meeting of the IAEA board of directors on February 2-3, which could refer the issue to the Security Council.

Lavrov said last week that the Kremlin has not ruled out backing Iran’s referral to the Security Council, although it said previously it saw no need for such action.

On Tuesday he said Iran had made “certain progress” in clearing up questions about its nuclear programme. Still, he said, “Iran must do much more than it has already.”