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Russia, U.S. discuss UN draft resolution on Iran

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed in a telephone conversation amendments to a draft UN resolution on the Iranian nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed in a telephone conversation amendments to a draft UN resolution on the Iranian nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

"The sides discussed progress on a draft UN Security Council resolution on Iran's nuclear program and some aspects of Russian-U.S. relations," the ministry said in a statement.

Following Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment or allow random inspections of its program in exchange for a package of incentives, Security Council members began discussing sanctions against the Islamic Republic proposed by three European states.

The UN Security Council agreed last Thursday on the main points of a draft resolution regarding Iran's disputed nuclear activities.

Russia has repeatedly said that sanctions are an ineffective way of settling the dispute with Iran, but has refused to rule out sanctions completely. The country proposed Wednesday its amendments to the resolution drafted by the U.K., France, and Germany. The United States also put forwards its amendments.

The Security Council agreed that sanctions against Tehran should limit enrichment activities, fuel reprocessing, heavy water reactors and the delivery of nuclear technology.

The sanctions proposed by the three European powers in the previous draft envisaged a ban on sales of missile and nuclear technologies to the country, the freezing of its military bank accounts and the imposition of visa restrictions on Iranian officials linked to the nuclear industry.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Sunday that Iran will continue its nuclear program, even if the UN Security Council adopts sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

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