"But we think so far that actions concerning Iran must be cautious," Shuvalov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"While applying economic sanctions or military operations to Iran, one must be aware of the fact that they will consolidate the Iranian people around the government and strengthen their support to the uranium enrichment program," Shuvalov said.

"When 60 million Iranian citizens decide to support the non-peaceful uranium enrichment program, that would be very dangerous indeed," he said.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in late July, urging Tehran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, or face prospect of sanctions, which was refused by Tehran.