No united stance in Moscow over Iran nuclear issue
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Moscow, April 19, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Moscow talks
Deputy foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (5+1) plus Germany ended their meeting in Moscow Tuesday evening on the Iran nuclear issue without reaching a common stand, it was reported Wednesday.
Officials of foreign ministries of the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States held three-hour discussions Tuesday behind closed doors ahead of the April 28 deadline set for Iran to comply with a UN Security Council demand for it to suspend uranium enrichment.
The UN Security Council, in a non-binding resolution passed on March 29, gave Iran 30 days to comply with its demand.
According to a US embassy spokesman in Moscow, the meeting was expected to deal with Iran's continuing uranium enrichment activities after which the UNSC was expected to make a final decision on the issue.
Russia and China have declared their opposition to the imposition of sanctions against Iran and have stressed the need to settle the issue through diplomatic means.
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kisliak, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs John Savers, German Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Scheffer and French Foreign Ministry Political Director Stansilas de Laboulaye took part in the Moscow meeting.
Political circles pointed to disagreements between the US and its western allies and the Russian and Chinese opposition to imposition of sanctions as the main reasons for the failure of the parties to the talks to obtain a unified position on the nuclear standoff.
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