No common Iran stance between Russia, US

Russia has rejected claims by US officials that Moscow and Washington have a common policy toward Iran concerning its nuclear program.

“Well, I can’t say [that Russia and the US are] adversaries, and I can’t say [they are] friends,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented in an interview with radio Echo Moscow on Friday.

He added that Russia and Iran have close ties and Moscow’s way of dealing with Iran’s nuclear issue differs from that of Washington.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced earlier that Moscow is against imposing sanctions on Iran, noting that Russia has always favored diplomatic solution with regard to Iran’s nuclear issue.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was against imposing “crippling sanctions” on Iran.

Despite the US and Israel calling on Moscow to stop sending S-300 air defense system to the Islamic Republic, Ryabkov said Moscow intends to fulfill a contract to supply Iran with the missiles.

The US and some other Western countries have accused Iran of pursuing military ends through its nuclear program, a charge Tehran rejects as politically-motivated.

Iran’s nuclear program was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled a US-backed monarch in Iran, Western companies working on Iran’s program refused to fulfill their obligations even though they had been paid in full.

The Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is solely aimed at the civilian application of the technology.