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  • RUSSIA: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says UN sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to resume talks

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RUSSIA: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says UN sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to resume talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says new sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council on Iran are designed to persuade Tehran to resume discussion of its nuclear programme, not to punish it. United Nations sanctions imposed on Iran at the weekend are designed to persuade Tehran to resume negotiations on its nuclear programme and not punish it, Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday (March 27). The U.N. Security Council on Saturday imposed restrictions on Iranian arms exports, state-owned banks and the elite Revolutionary Guards in response to Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment programme. "We hope the Iranian leadership will adequately perceive the signals contained in the resolution that was recently adopted by the Security Council," Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow after talks with Montenegro's Foreign Minister Milan Rocen. Lavrov said the U.N. decision was designed to lead to a resumption of talks. "The resolution adopted by the Security Council is designed to help resume negotiations. It does not aim to serve as an instrument for punishing Iran," he said. "The door is open ... we hope that a positive reaction will follow," said Lavrov. Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council, backed the latest resolution but has resisted U.S.-led efforts to impose harsher sanctions on Iran. Washington and several European states suspect Iran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran says it is pursuing nuclear technology exclusively to generate electricity. Russia says it does not want Iran to acquire nuclear arms but believes engagement, not isolation, is the best approach. Iran responded to the latest UN sanctions by saying it would partially suspend cooperation with the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Lavrov said it appeared that Iran had not yet carried out this threat. NP/AD

ITN Source | March 27, 2007Watch more videos from ITN Source

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