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Russia, more cautious about punishing Iran for its nuclear ambitions than other European countries, is planning high-level contacts with Tehran this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"As for our contacts with the Iranian leadership, these contacts were planned for this week," Lavrov told a news conference in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. "The format is currently being worked out," he said.
Lavrov's remarks followed an announcement that a visit to Moscow by Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki planned for Thursday had been postponed indefinitely. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement did not say why it had been postponed.
But Iran's student news agency ISNA reported later that Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was expected to visit Russia on Friday to meet President Vladimir Putin. The report about Larijani's visit could not be officially confirmed.
The United States suspects Iran is using its nuclear power programme as a cover for bomb-making. Tehran says it wants the nuclear technology only to generate electricity. Russia, which has a veto on the UN Security Council, has been reluctant to go along with Western plans to use sanctions against Iran.
Moscow has proposed major deletions to a European draft UN resolution aimed at stemming Iran's nuclear ambitions, according to a text of Moscow's proposed amendments obtained by Reuters.
The draft UN resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany demands that nations prevent the sale and supply of equipment, technology and financing contributing to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Russia instead wants this provision to focus only on "enrichment-related and reprocessing activities," heavy-water reactors and the development of "nuclear weapon delivery systems."
Moscow's objections to the sanctions plan, which included eliminating an assets freeze and a travel ban, are bound to drag out talks through November. Russia says such sanctions should be determined by national governments rather than be mandatory for all nations.
Lavrov said Russia was committed to earlier understandings on Iran reached with the other four permanent UN Security Council members - the United States, France, Britain, China - plus Germany and the European Union. "These consist of continuing to forge a consensus in collective fashion on measures which will bring talks closer on the Iranian nuclear programme," he said.
"Within this framework, we have proposed amendments to the draft resolution presented by the three European countries which go much further than the agreements of which I have already spoken."

Copyright Reuters, 2006

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