Russia has no information indicating Iran's nuclear program is for military purposes but Tehran should act quickly to clarify lingering questions about its nuclear work, a top official said yesterday.

"Russia has no information indicating that Iran is pursuing a non-peaceful program," Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov told a news briefing, the Interfax news agency reported.

He urged Iran "not to drag out the clarification of questions" the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has regarding its nuclear program.

The IAEA "has unfortunately been unable to get clear answers to quite a few questions related to Iran's previous nuclear programs, which had been implemented without this organization's awareness," Ivanov said.

The United States is seeking to impose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council on the grounds that Tehran is developing a nuclear-weapons program under the garb of a civilian-use program. Iran, however, says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a telephone conversation on Monday that Moscow favored further talks on Iran's nuclear program.

Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States offered a package in June offering incentives and multilateral talks to Iran in exchange for a freeze on its uranium enrichment work.

Tehran has said that it wants talks with the major powers, but will not suspend its nuclear work as a prerequisite.

Iran, which failed to meet a UN Security Council deadline for suspending its enrichment work by Aug. 31, said on Friday it had fed gas into a second cascade of centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility.