Russia, China want diplomatic solution for Iran.

UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia and China on Thursday
urged a diplomatic solution for the Iranian nuclear problem.
"Nobody wants sanctions against Iran. The Iranian problem shall be
resolved by a diplomatic way. If Iran wants to hold negotiations it shall
begin them," Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin told
reporters after a meeting of the six powers on Iran.
"Talks will continue," he added.
Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Li Baodong also called for a
diplomatic solution.
The six powers comprise Russia, the United States, China, the UK,
France and Germany and a meeting of their ambassadors to the United
Nations lasted for three hours in the British mission to the U.N.

.US agrees with Russia sanctions should not hit ordinary Iranians.

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The United States agreed with
Russia that possible sanctions against Tehran should not hit ordinary
Iranians, Special Assistant to the U.S. President and Senior Director for
Russian Affairs Michael McFaul said on Thursday commenting on the meeting
of Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in Prague.
"President Medvedev has made publicly very clear that he does not
support sanctions that will lead to economic hardship for the Iranian
people, that would foment economic chaos, or would lead to regime change.
We actually agree with him on that," he told reporters.
McFaul said the presidents had "a very substantive discussion of
Iran". "We are in the process of beginning a negotiation about a sanctions
resolution. We want to use sanctions as a tool to change Iranian behavior."
"We have moved beyond just saying sometimes sanctions are necessary or
inevitable. We are talking about a concrete process, concrete
categories," he added.
Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben
Rhodes said the two presidents agreed that "sanctions are part of a
broader strategy, which is designed to affect Iran's behavior."
"So these categories are part of a discussion of steps that could be
taken to have the greatest chance of applying that cost-benefit analysis
without having undue other negative consequences like we've discussed with
the humanitarian situation, for instance," Rhodes said.

.Afghan drugs pose global threat - Russian envoy.

VIENNA, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia shares concerns of the
international community regarding "the degrading security situation in
Afghanistan caused by growing terrorist activity of Taliban and Al-Qaeda
and the catastrophic situation with illegal drugs production and
trafficking," Russian permanent representative to the OSACE Anvar Azimov
said on Thursday addressing a session of the OSCE Permanent Council in
which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon participated.
"The flow of illegal drugs from the Afghan territory has developed in
a global threat to international peace and security. It can be stopped
only by joint and decisive efforts and agreed actions of all international
organizations present in the region," he said.
The fight against terrorism, illegal drugs and organized crime remain
a cooperation priority for the United Nations and OSCE.
"Being interested in sustainable and stable development in Central
Asia, Russia values the assistance of the United Nations and OSCE provided
to the countries of the region. All programs and projects shall take into
account the opinions and interests of accepting countries and should
target the creation of national potential and have strict deadlines,"
Azimov said.

.Blast injures man in Dagestan.

MAKHACHKALA, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- A powerful blast rocked a street
in Dagestani capital of Makhachkala overnight and one man was injured,
police said.
The explosive was planted near an electric post and went off close to
a private house.
Police said the injured man has been hospitalized and is being
identified.

.Earthquake registered near Kamchatka.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKI, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- An earthquake with a
4.1 magnitude was registered at the eastern coast of Kamchatka, the
Russian Geophysical Service said on Friday.
The epicenter was located 240 kilometers northeast of
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski at a depth of up to 100 kilometers.
No tremors were felt in nearby settlements and no tsunami warning was
issued.
The Geophysical Service also reported an earthquake force 5.2 on the
Japanese Hokkaido Island. The epicenter was 60 kilometers underground.
-0-nec


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