Russia states opposition to sanctions campaign against Iran

RUSSIA: Russia said yesterday that it opposed using sanctions to stop Iran enriching nuclear fuel, while Britain announced that the UN Security Council would discuss just such a move next week.

"I think that until all diplomatic possibilities have been exhausted, sanctions would be extreme," Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said about Iran, which insists that it wants to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power stations, not weapons.

Mr Lavrov said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had failed to persuade Tehran to accept a package of incentives offered by Britain, France, Germany, the United States, China and Russia, in return for halting enrichment.

"We are continuing our diplomatic efforts," said Mr Lavrov on a visit to Poland.

"Some members of the six nations already want to impose sanctions against Iran. We, however, think first we must continue multilateral actions."

Diplomats say the US, Britain and France favour an embargo on sales of nuclear and missile technology to Tehran as a first step, which could be followed by other sanctions, including a travel ban on Iranian officials and the freezing of their assets.

Russia and China have opposed such a move, but Britain's ambassador to the UN, Emyr Jones Parry, said yesterday that the issue would be discussed next week.

"I expect the Iranian dossier to re-emerge in New York in the course of next week," he said, adding that discussion would relate to the imposition of sanctions.

Mr Lavrov said he would discuss Iran with other foreign ministers in London today, but US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said logistical problems might force the meeting to be scrapped in favour of consultations over the weekend.

While in Warsaw, Mr Lavrov also revealed that Moscow was "working directly with the leaders of North Korea" to persuade them to scrap plans to test an atomic bomb.

"We must do everything so that doesn't happen," he said, as the US, Japan and the EU urged Pyongyang to back down on its threat.

Mr Lavrov also said Poland's decision on whether to host a US anti-missile base would influence Russian policy on its "strategic stability and national security".

Russia's military says it might reconsider planned arms reductions if Poland or the Czech Republic hosts the site, even though both nations and the US insist the base would not threaten Russia, but protect against missile attack from the Middle East.