By RIA Novosti,
Yekaterinburg (Russia) : Russia Wednesday urged Iran Six, a group of negotiators on Tehran’s nuclear programme, to provide security guarantees to the Islamic country for freezing its uranium enrichment programme.
“I believe that the Iran Six could take the next step and put specific proposals on the negotiating table, giving Iran security guarantees and ensuring it the more distinguished place that it deserves at peace negotiations on the situation in the Middle East,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier here.
The Iran Six comprise the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, China, Russia, France and Britain – plus Germany, which has been negotiating with Iran on its controversial nuclear programme.
“Unfortunately, not all Iran Six mediators are ready” for this new approach to negotiations with Iran, Lavrov said.
“When some of the mediators ignore a common approach and begin taking unilateral steps, it clearly undermines our mutual efforts to resolve the existing situation through peaceful means,” he added.
Russia earlier criticised statements made by British foreign secretary David Miliband after Iran Six talks in London May 2, saying they did not reflect the opinion of all the participants.
On May 5, Lavrov accused some of his other colleagues of distorting the results of the talks in the British capital.
During the May 2 talks in London, the six international mediators agreed to offer new incentives to Tehran in order to persuade it to halt its nuclear programme.
However, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said none of the incentives offered by the West would persuade his country to abandon its right to peaceful nuclear technology.
Iran has defied three rounds of UN sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. It also refused to continue talks with the Iran Six, and said it would negotiate only with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).