Russia's Lavrov Says No Proof Iran Working On Nuclear Weapons

[Purveyor]

There is no hard proof that Iran is working on nuclear weapons, but Tehran has to clarify several key issues on its nuclear program to avoid fresh international action, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

Iran's recent move to begin enriching uranium to 20% sparked a new wave of international criticism, with the U.S. 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 needs enriched uranium for civilian energy purposes.

"There is no evidence that Iran has made a decision to produce nuclear weapons," Lavrov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

He added that Iran had failed to properly cooperate with international organizations over concerns about its nuclear program and said that if the situation persists "I cannot rule out that the UN Security Council will have to consider the situation once again."

Lavrov also said that sanctions were unlikely to be effective.

"If we go with the sanctions, we'll not go beyond the goal of our purpose of defending the nonproliferation regime. We don't want the nonproliferation regime to be used for ... strangling Iran, or taking some steps to deteriorate the situation the living standards of people in Iran," he said.

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http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100225/158001835.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. Like that will stop us or israel from screwing with them.