Associated Press Worldstream
December 5, 2007 Wednesday 12:15 PM GMT
Russia’s FM: no proof that Iran ever had nuclear weapons program
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
Russia’s foreign minister said Wednesday there was no proof that Iran
has ever run a nuclear weapons program, and praised Tehran for its
readiness to cooperate with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
"Data that we have seen don’t allow to say with certainty that Iran
has ever had a nuclear weapons program," Lavrov said when asked to
comment on the U.S. intelligence report saying that Iran suspended
its efforts to develop nuclear weapons in 2003.
He said he was referring to the intelligence data which Washington
had provided to Moscow as part of a dialogue on Iran over the past
few years.
Lavrov indicated that the U.S. acknowledgment that Iran halted a
suspected nuclear weapons bid in 2003 undermined Washington’s push
for a new set of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
"We will assess the situation regarding a new U.N. Security Council
resolution taking into account all these factors, including the
public U.S. confirmation that there is no information about the
existence of a covert nuclear weapons program in Iran," Lavrov told
reporters after talks with his Armenian counterpart.
"We have no information that such efforts had been conducted before
2003, even though our American colleagues said it was so," Lavrov
said.
Russia and China, another important ally of Iran, have grudgingly
approved two sets of limited U.N. sanctions against Iran over its
refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. But the Kremlin has bristled
at the U.S. push for tougher measures, saying they would only widen
the rift.
Lavrov said the International Atomic Energy Agency should continue
its work in Iran to clarify all outstanding issues related to
Tehran’s nuclear program.
"Naturally, we will need a full clarity," he said. "We support the
IAEA’s activities, which the IAEA and Iran have pledged to actively
pursue. We support Iran’s determination to do that … and we will
determine our future steps based on professional expert conclusions
of the IAEA."
On Tuesday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told Iran’s top nuclear
negotiator, Saeed Jalili, that Tehran’s nuclear program should be
transparent and remain under control of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Lavrov said that Putin urged Jalili to fully cooperate with the IAEA,
answer all its questions and also meet international demands to
freeze its uranium enrichment program.
Russia has taken a careful stance on Iran, where it is building a
$1US billion (euro680 million) nuclear reactor, seeking to preserve
economic and political ties with Tehran without angering the West.
During his trip to Iran in October, Putin promised that Russia would
complete the Bushehr plant, but refused to say when it could begin
operations.