Russian President Dmitry Medvedev does not rule out the possibility of imposing reasonable sanctions on Iran, the Russian foreign minister said on Friday.

"Sanctions seldom work but sometimes they are inevitable," Sergei Lavrov quoted Medvedev as saying after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Earlier in the month, the Iran Six discussed a possible new UN Security Council resolution that imposes further sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. The six countries, including the United States, France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia, comprise a group of international mediators negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program.

"We are convinced and President Medvedev has also mentioned today that sanctions must be intelligent, unaggressive and not paralyzing and should have no negative impact on the Iranian people but should be imposed on those who make decisions on cooperating with the international community," Lavrov said.

Clinton expressed hope that the sides will soon reach consensus on the Iranian problem.

Western powers suspect that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at making weapons, while Tehran claims it is pursuing nuclear technology for its civilian energy needs.

Under a plan drawn up by the IAEA last October, Iran was to ship out its low-enriched uranium to Russia, where it would be enriched and then sent to France to be made into fuel rods and returned to the Islamic Republic for use in its research reactor in Tehran.

The proposal was approved by the six international mediators on Iran's nuclear program but then rejected by Tehran, which suggested it could consider a simultaneous swap of its low-enriched uranium for 20%-enriched uranium, but that the exchange would have to take place on its own territory.

MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti)