Russian FM Tells West To Take Iranˈs Security Concerns Serious

Berlin, Feb 3 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday urged western countries to take Iranˈs security concerns serious. Lavrov stressed in his speech to the 49th Munich Security Conference that the West had to consider also Iranˈs ˈlegitimate security concernsˈ in the Mideast. Russiaˈs top diplomat repeated his countryˈs call for convening an international security conference, featuring the five UN veto powers, the EU, UN, Iran and its Arab Persian Gulf neighbors. The offer for such a meeting is ˈstill on the table,ˈ Lavrov reiterated. He emphasized that such a conference was also aimed at removing mutual mistrustˈ in the region. Meanwhile, Lavrov reaffirmed the need for a political and diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear issue./end