Moscow, April 1 (DPA) Russia is ready to join in international sanctions to prod Iran to come clean on its nuclear ambitions, a foreign ministry official said Thursday.
‘Such measures need to be focussed and selective in order to achieve the goal of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
The Kremlin does not believe sanctions to be a panacea, he said, but ‘sometimes there is a need to resort to such measures to persuade Iran to adopt a constructive approach.’
Russia is prepared to work to work with the UN Security Council on a new resolution for Iran, the news agency Interfax quoted him as saying.
Moscow had previously indicated a willingness to go along with sanctions, as long as they not directly affect the Iranian people.
Many countries in the West believe Iran is enriching uranium in order to make atomic weapons, but Teheran says its nuclear programme is geared to producing energy.
Nesterenko said Russia still felt the beast way to resolve the nuclear dispute was through diplomacy and negotiations.
