TOMSK, April 27 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday they favored a coordinated diplomatic approach to solving the long-running crisis around Iran's controversial nuclear problem.
"A diplomatic path includes various options for reaction. It is currently too early to ... say which solution we will jointly take. The most important thing is that any decision should be agreed [between all sides]," Putin said in the West Siberian oil city of Tomsk, where he is holding talks with Merkel.
He said all interested parties should be involved in comprehensive negotiations to ensure Iran's nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, and to alleviate the fears of the international community about nuclear proliferation.
"We are interested in the international community working jointly and showing Iran that we back diplomatic ways [to solve the problem], and Iran should fulfill its commitments," Merkel said, adding that a new report on Iran's nuclear program should reflect the coordinated efforts of the international community.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, will report April 28 to the UN Security Council, which has the authority to impose economic sanctions if Iran is found to be in breach of its international commitments.
Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tuesday his country would sever its relations with the IAEA and stop acting in a transparent manner over its nuclear programs if the UN Security Council imposed sanctions against it.
Russia, which is helping Iran build an $800-million nuclear power plant in Bushehr, has opposed the economic sanctions being pushed by the United States and its European allies. The Foreign Ministry said last week "sanctions could only be discussed when evidence is provided that Iran is pursuing not only peaceful work in the nuclear field."
Nuclear agency head Sergei Kiriyenko earlier said the Russian proposal to enrich uranium in Russia would remain on the table only if Iran met the IAEA's demands.
