Updated 10:05 p.m. Moscow Time
VIENNA, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow does not rule out any possible forms of non-military nuclear cooperation with Tehran in strict accordance with international laws, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Thursday.
“We do not exclude any forms of further cooperation with Iran in the peaceful nuclear sphere, although we will only pursue them in strict accordance with international law and the agreement we are working on right now,” Ryabkov told Russian journalists on the heels of the latest round of talks between six global powers and Tehran in Vienna.
“It would be premature to discuss the opportunities for such cooperation. But it could come in all shapes and sizes, including those without any precedent,” the diplomat noted.
Ryabkov stressed that “all form of cooperation that we practice or could practice in the future are aligned with requirements of international non-proliferation treaties, UN resolutions… and Russian laws.”
He added he felt sorry that “various aspects of our dialogue and cooperation with our Iranian partners in the nuclear sphere are the subject of much speculation.”
The diplomat continued to say that the Russian delegation had been doing “everything possible” to facilitate the nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group of international mediators.
The West and Israel have accused Tehran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program — claims repeatedly denied by the Iranian authorities.
At a meeting held in November 2013 in Geneva, Iran and the P5+1 group – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany – agreed to reach a long-term nuclear agreement by July 2014. The deadline was later postponed to November 24, 2014.
