Russia warns against Iran sanctions

Russia and China have warned against attempts to lobby for further sanctions against Iran in a UN Security Council vote due to be held on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“We are against forcing the voting process,” Interfax news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying in Beijing on Friday.

The United States has been stepping up efforts to persuade veto-wielding UNSC members Russia and China to agree to a new round of sanctions against Iran.

The US and European powers, along with Israel, accuse Iran of efforts to obtain nuclear bombs.

Iran, however, strongly dismisses the allegations, insisting its nuclear activities are completely peaceful, aimed at meeting the growing domestic energy demand and providing the radio medicine needed for treating cancer patients.

A number of Western diplomats have revealed that the Security Council is expected to vote next week on the US-brokered resolution which, if approved, would impose new sanctions on Iran.

The US-led campaign for sanctions comes despite the issuance of a fuel swap declaration by Iran, Brazil and Turkey on May 17.

Under the declaration, Iran agreed to send some 1,200 kg of its 3.5 percent enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kg of 20 percent uranium for the Tehran research reactor.

“Even if approved by the UN Security Council, a new anti-Iran resolution would be inefficient,” Ali-Akbar Salehi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on Thursday.

Salehi added that due to Tehran’s lawful position and strong diplomacy the case would eventually end in Iran’s favor.