Tehran (AsiaNews/Reuters) Russia and China are against the idea of UN sanctions against Iran. Delegates of the two powers have said more negotiations rather than sanctions are needed to scale back Iran's nuclear programme.
Last week, Tehran fully resumed nuclear fuel research, fuelling anxiety among the international community.
In a meeting in London on Monday 16 January, the US and EU took the same line: take the case of Iran to the UN Security Council, which may impose economic and diplomatic sanctions against Iran. However, Moscow and Beijing prefer more negotiations and are against sanctions. "Sanctions are in no way the best, or the only, way to solve the problem," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. President Vladimir Putin, although concerned about developments in Tehran, warned against any "abrupt, erroneous steps".
Kong Quan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing was for European diplomacy to resolve the crisis. "We think the most urgent thing for all the parties now is still to keep patient and make utmost efforts to resume the negotiations between the EU3 [Britain, France and Germany] and Iran," he said. Beijing has warned that moves by the UN Security Council could complicate the problem.
Meanwhile, in London, it was decided to hold a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 2 February.
