Iran has been at the center of international concerns over its uranium enrichment program, which some countries suspect is a covert program to develop nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic, which announced last week it has launched a second network of gas centrifuges to enrich uranium, may face sanctions for failing to comply with the UN Security Council's demand that it suspend enrichment.
"If we focus on measures to counter the transfer of related technologies (uranium enrichment, heavy-water reactors, nuclear fuel reprocessing), we could quickly agree on the text of the resolution, provided the measures have a clear-cut time frame and spell out a mechanism for lifting these measures. This should also be linked with Iran's consent to IAEA terms," Sergei Lavrov said.
Lavrov said earlier Russia is still ready to work out gradual measures to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem in a way that fits the reality of the situation on the ground.
He said the Iran-6 - the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany - agreed in June 2006 that the measures "should correspond to the reality of the situation around the Iranian nuclear program and should be gradual."
Lavrov called for collective action in line with previously coordinated principles, which stipulate that the non-proliferation regulations be rigorously complied with, on the one hand, and that the right to civilian nuclear research for all bona fide parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty be guaranteed, on the other.
The EU-3 - Britain, France and Germany - proposed last week a set of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which includes banning sales of missile and nuclear technologies to the country, freezing its military bank accounts, and imposing visa restrictions for officials linked to the nuclear industry.
Russia and China, veto-wielding Security Council members with strong business interests in Iran, have consistently opposed sanctions. The two countries have not yet given their formal response to the document, but have insisted on the need for a diplomatic solution.
