Russia won't back draft text against Iran

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday Moscow would not support a draft UN sanctions resolution on Iran proposed by European states, Russian news agencies reported.

Mr Lavrov's comments, the bluntest so far from Russia regarding the proposed text, underscored the difficulties major world powers are experiencing as they try to agree on a response to Iran's defiance of UN calls to scale back its atomic work.

Iran, which says its nuclear intentions are peaceful, has vowed not to be cowed by the threat of UN action. A senior official warned yesterday that Tehran may further scale back co-operation with UN inspectors if any sanctions are imposed.

The draft resolution drawn up for UN Security Council discussion by European states would outlaw most nuclear and missile cooperation with Iran and impose a travel ban on people responsible for and involved in its nuclear programme.

"We cannot support those measures which in fact aim to isolate Iran from the outside world, including the isolation of the people who are charged with leading negotiations on the nuclear programme," news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.

The resolution was drafted after Iran rejected repeated UN demands to scrap uranium enrichment, which can be used to make material for power stations or warheads.

Washington had hoped to toughen up the resolution, with a senior US official on Tuesday describing it as a more serious security threat than North Korea. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he was optimistic Russia would support a UN sanctions resolution.