[Wall Street Journal] Marc Champion and Jay Solomon - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear Thursday that Moscow will not back tougher sanctions such as a ban on petroleum sales to Iran, and said the world would have enough time to respond if Tehran ever did try to enrich uranium to weapons grade. "Iran is a partner that has never harmed Russia in any way," Lavrov said. Russia had agreed only to sanctions in the past aimed at pressing Iran to engage with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Tough sanctions aimed at pushing Iran to agree to demands to shut its nuclear program were a different matter. Lavrov said, "I do not think those sanctions will be approved by the United Nations Security Council," where Russia wields a veto.
2009-09-11 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive