TMCnet News
Japan, Russia agree to persist in dialogue with Iran over nuke row+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 7_(Kyodo) _ Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, agreed Monday over the need to continue persisting in efforts to negotiate with Iran to defuse the Iranian nuclear issue, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said. Aso was quoted as telling Lavrov that Japan had urged Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, during Mottaki's visit to Japan last week, to find a clue to the resolution based on the Russian proposal that could resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. Lavrov said in response that Russia deems it important to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue and intends to continue negotiating with Iran during a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency that began Monday and will last for a week, the officials said. Moscow's proposal for a joint uranium enrichment venture to enrich Iran's uranium on Russian soil is seen as a last-ditch diplomatic effort to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue before the Iranian case is brought to the U.N. Security Council which could pave the way for the international community to impose sanctions on Iran. Their 30-minute phone conversation comes at a time the IAEA convened its regular board meeting in what is considered to be a crucial meeting that will determine the fate of Iran's uranium enrichment operations. A special IAEA board meeting decided last month to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council because of the country's failure to comply with its obligations under an IAEA safeguards accord. But the five permanent Security Council members, which includes Russia, agreed the council would not take action on the Iranian case until it receives a relevant report from the regular IAEA board meeting. Iran insists that its nuclear program is only aimed for energy generation, but there are international concerns that Iran might pursue nuclear weapons. |