Iran should fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said here Tuesday at a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Abdel Ilah al-Khatib.

"We regard it very important that Iran should fully cooperate with the IAEA to clarify all the remaining questions in compliance with decisions of the agency's board of governors," Lavrov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"Russia and Jordan are convinced of the need for a political settlement of the Iranian nuclear problem," he said.

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, is due in Iran on Wednesday to discuss Tehran's nuclear program amid a tense standoff with the West.

Lavrov was optimistic at ElBaradei's visit. "I am convinced that the visit will be professional. I hope that its outcome will facilitate progress in settling questions remaining from the past,improve the atmosphere involving the Iranian nuclear program and promote control over IAEA monitoring of the Iranian nuclear program."

"We support the visit. We wish ElBaradei success in his talks and hope the Iranian side offers all possible assistance to that end," Lavrov said.

"The IAEA is a professional mechanism that is bound to guarantee nonproliferation and help countries exercise their right to peaceful nuclear power engineering," he said.

ElBaradei's upcoming visit to Iran has been viewed as a last-ditch effort to ease the escalating tension over Iran's nuclear issue.

Tehran has insisted on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, denying Washington's charge of secret nuclear weapon ambitions.

About the situation in Syria and Lebanon, Lavrov said, "Russia and Jordan find it necessary to carry out UN Security Council resolutions on Syria and Iran, especially as there are signs of progress there."