TEHRAN, August 21 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terehov) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed the importance of enhancing Russian-Iranian relations and said he was sure talks with the European Union on the Iranian "nuclear dossier" would not come to a deadlock.
"Moscow and Tehran are extending comprehensive cooperation, including in the settlement of international problems, which is very important," the Iranian president said in an interview. He added that nobody could spoil these relations.
"We think that the development of comprehensive cooperation corresponds to long-term interests of the Russian and Iranian nations," Ahmadinejad said.
Touching upon the problem of the country's "nuclear dossier", the Iranian leader said talks between Iran and the European troika (the United Kingdom, France and Germany) were unlikely to reach a deadlock.
Speaking on Russia's possible assistance in solving the problem, Ahmadinejad said, "If Moscow takes a fair position and abides by the Non-Proliferation Treaty and its additional protocol as Iran does, this will improve the nations' relations and help enhance security in the region and of Russia and Iran."
On August 10, Iran resumed the work of the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center to process uranium-bearing ore. The EU considered this move as lifting the moratorium on uranium-enrichment and called an emergency session of the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) Board of Governors. The body adopted a resolution urging Iran to suspend all kinds of work on uranium-enrichment.
Tehran turned down the document, calling it "politically motivated and unacceptable for a state". In his estimation of the Iranian "nuclear dossier" problem, President of the United States George Bush did not rule out the possibility to use force to solve the problem. However, the EU and Tehran announced they were set to continue a dialogue on the problem.
