Iran nuclear issue no more dangerous than other intl. problems: Russia

TEHRAN,Aug.22(MNA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he sees no reason why the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program should be seen as the one that will inevitably “explode”. Lavrov made the remarks during a recent interview with Sky News Arabia, the Voice of Russia reported on Saturday. He stated that Iran’s nuclear problem is no more dangerous than other international problems, adding that the current differences between the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) and Tehran in regard to the issue are no more serious than those in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Lavrov said that he sees no reason why it is precisely the Iranian problem that should be seen as the one that will inevitably “explode”, nor does he see the recent talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Istanbul and Moscow as a failure because the parties to the talks have set forth their stance on specific issues in the most clear-cut way. Asked about Israel’s military threats to Iran, the Russian foreign minister said that he did not believe that the problem could be settled through the steady and long-term use of military force. The Persian service of the Fars News Agency, quoting RIA Novosti, reported on August 15 that Iran and the six major powers would hold a new round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear program in late August. The latest round of high-level talks between Iran and was held in Moscow on June 18 and 19. After the Moscow talks, both sides agreed to hold expert talks. And the most recent round of expert talks was held in Istanbul on July 24, in which negotiators from Iran and the European Union tried to find common ground for another round of high-level talks between Iran and world powers. On August 2, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held a telephone conversation with Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili about nuclear talks between the Islamic Republic and the world powers. It was the first time that Ashton, who represents the 5+1 group in nuclear negotiations with Tehran, had spoken with Jalili, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, since the Moscow talks.