"According to all information available, not only does Iran not have nuclear weapons, neither does it have enriched uranium or plutonium. This is a very significant difference," Ivanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Ivanov said Russia favors political and diplomatic methods in settling the conflict and insisted that any developments in this area should be done under close international control.

Iran does have missiles that could theoretically reach certain parts of the Russian Federation, but these are not intercontinental missiles, Ivanov said.

To construct intercontinental missiles "the country should have a different level of industry," Ivanov said. "This requires hundreds of enterprises having the appropriate equipment," he said.

Ivanov branded plans to deploy missile defense systems in Europe to intercept Iranian missiles as unfounded. "This explanation is totally out of place," Ivanov said.