Russia ignores appeal to refer Iran to UN Security Council

Xinhuanet:

Moscow rejected on Saturday the appeals from the United States and other Western countries to support an initiative to submit Iran's nuclear problem to the UN Security Council, the Interfax news agency reported.

"We see no reason to refer the matter, which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is currently dealing with intensively and productively, to the UN Security Council," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian mission to the United Nations, told Interfax by telephone from New York.

The Iranian nuclear problem can be resolved only when Iran comes to "complete" cooperation and fulfills resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors, according to the spokeswoman. READ MORE

Russia expects that a planned session of the IAEA Board of Governors on Sept. 19 would hold a detailed debate on a report by IAEA head Mohamed al-Baradey and set guidelines for solving the remaining problems, Zakharova was quoted as saying.

In her view, the report prepared by al-Baradey "lays a good basis for further removing the political dimension from the work done within the IAEA framework for the earliest possible resolution of this problem," said Interfax.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko repeated Moscow's objections on Friday to referring the Iranian nuclear problem to the UN Security Council, warning against "hasty steps" in the growing crisis over Iran's nuclear program.

Talking with British Ambassador Tony Brenton, Yakovenko said "While discussing Iran's nuclear problem, the necessity of not taking hasty steps was underscored by the Russia side," according to a Foreign Ministry statement.