Russia Slams British Statement On Iran
Russia slams British statement on Iran
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080505/106637990.html
21:31 | 05/ 05/ 2008
MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - Statements made by the U.K. foreign secretary following Iran-Six talks in London on May 2 do not reflect the opinion of all the participants, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The world powers engaged in the long-running nuclear talks with Iran - the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - agreed last Friday to offer new incentives to Tehran to halt its nuclear programs.
Miliband did not reveal details of the new offer, but hoped Iran would "recognize the seriousness and the sincerity" of the new approach, but said that Tehran's uranium enrichment program still posed a serious threat.
"David Miliband's statement reflects his own point of view rather than the collective opinion of the Iran-Six, at least, it does not reflect our [Russia's] position," the ministry said in a statement.
"There was no discussion of new threats allegedly posed by the Iranian nuclear program or new approaches toward Iran during the recent ministerial meeting," the ministry said.
The Western nations suspect Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Tehran insists it needs uranium enrichment technology to generate electricity, its right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Later on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also accused some of his other colleagues of distorting the results of the talks in London.
"Some of my colleagues at the talks in London surprised me today... by trying to say that we agreed on some tougher stance in relations with Iran," Lavrov said. "Moscow has made it clear already that this is an absolute distortion of what was achieved in London."
Lavrov said the London meeting yielded a package of "positive incentives," which would be handed to Tehran in due time. Lavrov did not reveal details of the new proposals, saying Iran should be the first to know their contents.
The international negotiators proposed to Tehran in June 2006 cooperation in civilian nuclear technology, trade and other spheres in a bid to persuade Tehran to give up uranium enrichment and resume talks with the Iran-Six group.
The Islamic Republic has rejected the 2006 incentives. It has also defied three rounds of relatively mild UN Security Council sanctions imposed over its defiance of international demands to suspend uranium enrichment, technology needed for electricity generation and weapons production.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated on Sunday that the country would push ahead with its nuclear program despite pressure from the West.
