Following Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment or allow random inspections of its program in exchange for a package of incentives, Security Council members began discussing sanctions against the Islamic Republic proposed by three European states.
"I believe that it is quite possible to reach a consensus if our partners show realism and do not insist on certain positions that, in our view, have nothing in common with the task that we all put forward - to persuade Iran to negotiate, not try to punish it," Sergei Lavrov said.
The UN Security Council agreed Thursday on the main points of a draft resolution regarding Iran's disputed nuclear activities.
Russia has repeatedly said that sanctions are an ineffective way of settling the dispute with Iran, but has refused to rule out sanctions completely. The country proposed Wednesday its amendments to the resolution drafted by the U.K., France, and Germany. The United States also put forwards its amendments.
The Security Council agreed that sanctions against Tehran should limit enrichment activities, fuel reprocessing, heavy water reactors and the delivery of nuclear technology.
The sanctions proposed by the three European powers in the previous draft envisaged a ban on sales of missile and nuclear technologies to the country, the freezing of its military bank accounts and the imposition of visa restrictions on Iranian officials linked to the nuclear industry.
But Russia and China, veto-wielding Security Council members with strong business interests in Iran, said the draft was excessively harsh, prompting the reversal of the draft resolution.
Churkin said work on the draft was going smoothly, although some differences persisted.
Iran has rejected the new resolution in advance.
"The latest draft resolution of the UN Security Council is unacceptable to Iran, as it restricts Iran's right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Ali Larijani, the country's top nuclear negotiator, said Wednesday.
