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Russia still banking on IAEA to settle Iran's nuclear case: FM

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Moscow, March 11, IRNA
Russia-Iran-Nuclear
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Friday that his country was still counting on the UN nuclear watchdog to settle Iran's nuclear case, adding that the nuclear watchdog was the rightful judge in deciding the issue.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has professional people who can deal with opposing sides to preserve the integrity of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he added.

He said that the UN Security Council does not have experts to probe into Iran's atomic activities and cannot, therefore, issue a reasonable decision.

He pointed to remarks by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei indicating optimism a compromise could still be reached on Iran's case, and said he believes the agency still had the capacity to resolve the issue.

The minister further expressed dissatisfaction over Western press reports released after the IAEA meeting which conveyed the message that the recent session of the IAEA Board of Governors was a victory for the West.

Russia, along with a majority of IAEA member states, had invited Iran to suspend all nuclear activities as a necessary step to build confidence and continue diplomatic efforts to try to resolve the issue, Lavrov said.

He said his country had made contacts with the EU troika (Germny, France and Britain), China, the United States and the IAEA chief in recent days and called on all sides to hold an international session on Iran's nuclear case in order to reach a compromise and that the troika and China also expressed their readiness to cooperate.

Lavrov pointed to the two latest sessions of the Board of Governors on Iran's nuclear case and said Moscow, in Friday night's meeting of representatives of the Security Council's five permanent members, had expressed its view that sanctions would not solve the problem.

He said that while Russia does not believe in sanctions as the proper solution to the issue, it believes that the sides should meet again to try to map out new strategies.

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