The UN Security Council will take up the issue of sanctions against Iran in the very near future, the Russian Foreign minister said on Thursday.
"In the absence of cooperation on the part of Iran, it is quite possible that sanctions will become inevitable, and in the very near future the Security Council will deal with these matters," Sergei Lavrov said.
He said sanctions should have only one goal - to prod Iran into resolving all the issues in connection with its nuclear program and help consolidate the international nonproliferation regime.
"Sanctions must not be used to stifle Iran, create a humanitarian catastrophe or change the regime. This is our immutable position, and it coincides with the position of an overwhelming number of states," Lavrov said.
The United States and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program and are seeking new sanctions following Iran's move to enrich uranium to 20%.
Russia and China have repeatedly opposed new sanctions against Iran, saying the issue should be resolved through diplomacy.
Iran needs 20% enriched uranium as fuel for a research reactor in Tehran and the country's nuclear chief said in February that 3-5 kilograms of enriched uranium were being produced for the research reactor every month. The reactor, which produces isotopes for medical use, needs only 1.5 kilograms of nuclear fuel per month.
The IAEA-sponsored deal to supply nuclear fuel for Tehran proposes Iran ship low-enriched uranium to Russia and then France to be processed into higher-grade nuclear fuel and then returned to Iran.
The deal was approved by Russia, France and the United States but rejected by Iran, which proposed a simultaneous exchange, and began enriching uranium itself in lieu of an agreement.
STRASBOURG, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
