Russia urges Iran to answer P5+1 call

Following the call by world powers for an “early negotiated solution” to Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s foreign minister urges Tehran to respond to the initiative.

Foreign ministers of the P5+1 — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US plus Germany — on Wednesday said they were “determined and committed” to seek an “early negotiated solution” to Iran’s nuclear issue.

“Iran could reply to six states’ initiative to restart talks more rapidly,” Interfax quoted Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the state-run Rossia-1 TV channel on Saturday.

Lavrov expressed hope that the new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program would begin in the near future.

Iran has announced readiness to resume talks on its nuclear program in September, but has stated that any negotiation must be conducted within the framework of the May 17 fuel swap declaration.

Iran issued a nuclear fuel swap declaration with Turkey and Brazil to ease Western concern, and agreed to exchange most of its low-enriched uranium on Turkish soil for fuel for a medical research reactor.

The Russian foreign minister also criticized unilateral sanctions against Iran as a “violation, even without mentioning the legal aspect of the issue,” Interfax reported.

Russia, Iran’s longtime trade partner, had traditionally opposed the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution against Tehran, but joined world powers in approving a new set of sanctions against the country over its nuclear program in June.

Following the UNSC resolution, the US and EU also imposed additional unilateral sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program, targeting the country’s energy and financial sectors.

Iran has criticized the UNSC sanctions arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of International Atomic Energy Agency it has the right to pursue and benefit from nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.