Lavrov Warns On Use Of Force In Nuclear Talks With Iran

Moscow, Dec 29, IRNA - Use of force against Iran can bring most negative consequences, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said here on Thursday. He made the remarks in an interview with the Russian New Agency Interfax. "Iran has the right to have peaceful nuclear activity under the complete supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)." Lavrov noted that the international community should respond to Iran's positive steps and remove the sanctions gradually. There are new horizons in talks between G5+1 and Iran in bridging the gaps, he said, referring to recent talks between Tehran and G5+1 representative. "According to IAEA reports, there is no evidence of Iran's deviation from peaceful nuclear program; IAEA representatives and Iranian officials made agreement on the modality of cooperation in latest talks in Tehran." Russian FM voiced hope that the upcoming January talks between IAEA representatives and Iran result in a final accord. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing those sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path. Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of IAEA's questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities./end