Russia strongly warns against use of force on Iran

[FarCenter]

http://www.thehindu.com/holnus/003200806210359.htm

Moscow (AP): Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons. Sergey Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency. Lavrov made the statement when asked to comment on an Israeli Cabinet member's statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.

``I hope the actual actions would be based on international law,'' Lavrov said. ``And international law clearly protects Iran's and anyone else's territorial integrity.'' Lavrov's statement came as Israel's military refused to confirm or deny a report Friday that its warplanes staged a major rehearsal this month for a possible attack on Iran.

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Lavrov said Russia had asked both the United States and Israel to provide factual information to back their claims that Iran was working to build atomic weapons. ``So far we have seen none, and the same conclusion was made by the International Atomic Energy Agency,'' he said.

Lavrov insisted that Iran must be encouraged to continue its cooperation with the IAEA, the U.N. monitoring agency. ``As long as the IAEA reports to us progress in its relations with Iran, as long as Iran closes the issues which were of concern to the IAEA and this process continues, we should avoid any steps which could undermine this very important process,'' he said, speaking in English.

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