Russia called on Iran on Sunday to ease world concerns about its nuclear ambitions by ratifying the additional protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and halting all uranium enrichment, the Ria-Novosti news agency reported.
"The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) would like to seek more steps to strengthen trust in Iran's nuclear programme, and Iran must take such steps," Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov was quoted as saying in the Tajik capital Dushanbe.
Lavrov urged the Iranian parliament to ratify the additional protocol of the NPT, which Tehran signed in December 2003 and which steps up international controls on the nuclear activities of signatory states.
He also called on Tehran to immediately freeze all uranium enrichment activities, another key demand of the international community, Ria-Novosti reported.
The uranium enrichment process produces fuel for civilian reactors but is also used for production of the explosive core of atomic bombs.
Washington alleges Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.
The IAEA has set a November 25 deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities and answer all questions about its nuclear ambitions. It risks being referred to the Security Council, something the United States has been pushing for.
Russia's foreign minister last Sunday said his country was opposed to seeing Iran referred to the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme.
Lavrov also emphasised that Russia's help in building Iran's first nuclear power station in the southern city of Bushehr "was absolutely not a cause for concern at the IAEA" and vowed that Moscow would forge ahead with the project.
The United States has also opposed the project over concerns that spent fuel from the plant could be used by Iran to produce low-yield nuclear weapons.
Lavrov is accompanying President Vladimir Putin on a visit to Tajikistan for the opening of Russia's largest military base outside its border in a bid to boost Moscow's defence in former Soviet territories that have become overrun by Islamic insurgency and a growing drug trade.
Comments
Comments are closed.