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Russia against more Iran sanctions

15 February 2011 19:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russia has once again downplayed the effectiveness of Western sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, saying it will not support future sanctions, APA reports quoting Press TV.

"With the approval of Resolution 1929 in [June] last year, practical possibilities to impose sanctions on those related -- even indirectly -- to the Iranian nuclear program have been exhausted," RIA Novosti quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday.

Lavrov made the remarks at a news conference with his British counterpart William Hague in London on Tuesday.

Western powers accuse Tehran of following a military nuclear program, a charge repeatedly refuted by the Islamic Republic.

In June 2010, the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran’s financial and military sectors under Western pressure.

The United States and its European allies also separately imposed unilateral punitive measures against Iran’s energy sector.

"Further sanctions would mean the suppression of the Iranian economy and creation of social problems for the population," Lavrov stressed. "We cannot support this."

Last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed US-led allegations that Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

"The international community so far has no proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons," he said.

Describing sanctions as illegal under international law, Iran says that such measures will not prevent it from pursuing peaceful nuclear technology, which is mostly needed for curing cancer patients.

Iran says that as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the right to use peaceful nuclear energy.