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UN Security Council may revise Iran issue - Medvedev

© RIA Novosti . Dmitry Astakhov / Go to the mediabankDmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev - Sputnik International
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The UN Security Council may revise its approach to Iran as Tehran is not responding to compromise proposals on its nuclear program, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

The UN Security Council may revise its approach to Iran as Tehran is not responding to compromise proposals on its nuclear program, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, Tehran is not responding to a number of constructive compromise proposals and we cannot close our eyes to this. Therefore, I do not rule out that the Security Council will have to revise this issue," Medvedev said at a joint news conference with Barack Obama after the signing of a new arms reduction treaty.

"Sanctions rarely lead to any kind of result, although they are sometimes unavoidable. But in any case, these sanctions should be sensible and aimed only at achieving non-proliferation, not at harming the Iranian people or causing a humanitarian catastrophe," he added.

Iran's recent move to begin enriching uranium to 20% sparked a wave of international criticism, with the United States leading calls for new harsher sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

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.

Obama said that Iran's nuclear program was threatening the world with a new arms race.

"Those nations who refuse to meet their commitments will be isolated. That includes accountability for those who break the rules. Otherwise the NPT is just words on page," he said.

"That's why United States and Russia are forming a coalition of nations insisting that the Islamic republic of Iran faces consequences because they continually failed to meet their obligations. We are working together in the U.N. Security Council to pass strong sanctions on Iran and we will not tolerate actions that flout NPT risking arms race in the vital region."

He also said that the UN Security Council could impose sanctions on Iran as early as this spring.

This month Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said any sanctions imposed against Iran over its nuclear program will only increase the Islamic Republic's desire to move forward with uranium enrichment.

 

PRAGUE, April 8 (RIA Novosti)

 

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