Russia to press Iran to fulfill IAEA decisions

Russia plans to push Iran for fulfilling decisions of the IAEA on the nuclear program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reports.

Lavrov noted that he has not seen the reply-letter sent to the EU by Iran. European diplomatic head Catherine Ashton commented on the letter, saying that it does not contain anything new.

Russia wants full confidence that there is no military aspect in the program. Iran needs to answer IAEA’s questions. This is why Russia will motivate Iran for fulfilling decisions of the IAEA and the UN Security Council.

Six mediators on settlement of the nuclear program (Russia, China, USA, France, UK and Germany) have been urging Iran to stop uranium enrichment since 2003, as a threat to nuclear non-proliferation.

Talks were halted in 2009 when IAEA condemned Iran for building the second uranium enrichment factory. The organization urged Iran to assure it that there will be no other nuclear facilities built without IAEA’s approval.

USA and a set of Western states accuse Iran of developing nuclear arms on the background of peaceful nuclear program. Tehran denies all accusations, insisting that the program is aimed at fulfilling demands for electricity.

The UN Security Council passed the fourth resolution with harsher sanctions against Iran in June 2010 due to Tehran’s refusal to clarify fulfill international obligations and clarify a set of issues on the nuclear program, including its military aspect.