Russia’s foreign minister says: “There is no evidence or reason to show that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb.”
Sergey Lavrov told Bloomberg network: “We don’t have any proof that Iran has taken a political decision to produce a bomb. And whatever information IAEA has does not support the conclusion that Iran already is making a bomb. IAEA has access to all sites which Iran legally must show to the inspectors. ”
He added that the IAEA and the UN Security Council have not been able to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program; however, neither have they reached the conclusion that Iran’s nuclear activities are aimed at military goals.
The Russian foreign minister went on to add that it is not enough to resort to sanctions and threats against Iran and added that continuing talks with Iran could yield “successful” results.
RIA Novosti news agency also reported on Wednesday that in a meeting with Moshe Yalon, Israel’s head of strategic affairs, Lavrov said that Russia is ready to assist in easing all concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program through negotiation.
Western powers have claimed that Iran might be moving toward military uses of nuclear energy. Most recently Yukiya Amano, the IAEA chief, said Iran is “secretly” building “atomic warheads.” That report is to be examined at the IAEA meeting scheduled for June 6-10 in Vienna.
Amano has said that the IAEA cannot guarantee that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful.
The Iranian representative to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, has called the accusations “repetitive”, “boring” and “unfounded.” Iranian authorities continue to maintain that Iran has no intention of using its nuclear activities for military purposes.
