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Russian FM: UN draft resolution on Iran punitive
21/12/2006 10:55

The UN Security Council's draft resolution on Iran looks punitive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference yesterday.

Most of the resolution's points "leave one with an impression that our partners are going to punish Tehran," Lavrov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Some countries tried to reshape the wording of the resolution in their favor so as to "block channels for trade relations with Iran in legitimate spheres," Lavrov said.

The UN Security Council "must support efforts of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and not substitute for the IAEA," he said.

However, when "it concerns the introduction of restrictions on technological deliveries to Iran," the wording of the resolution shows "qualitative changes and a substantial progress," Lavrov said.

He said that there is an "understanding (in the Security Council) that a solution in this field should be not all-embracing,but concern technologies of uranium enrichment, chemical reprocessing of nuclear fuel, deliveries of heavy water reactors, as well as means of delivery of nuclear weapons."

"We see positive changes in this respect," Lavrov said.

Lavrov reminded reporters that six international mediators "have reached an agreement to seek the solution of Iran's problem through negotiations, and agreed that the use of force in the solution of the conflict is out of the question."

"If we observe these principles, the decision will be made quickly," he stressed.



Xinhua