By DPA,
Moscow : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on Iran to allow immediate inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the Islamic republic’s second uranium enrichment facility, Russian media reported Saturday.
Medvedev said the announcement by Iran of a second facility had created difficulties for the international community in the row over Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.
“The building of a new factory was a surprise for all countries,” the Interfax news agency quoted the Russian president as saying following the G20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh.
“This was a secret enterprise. That is the greatest difficulty in this situation,” he said, adding that “the international nuclear authority IAEA should be allowed to inspect this facility without delay”.
Medvedev also stated that Russia as a UN Security Council veto power could – contrary to its prior position – support sanctions against Iran.
“Should the present initiatives fail, other mechanisms have to be considered,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa in New York for intensive talks about Iran’s nuclear programme, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported, without supplying details.
The ministry also said Lavrov would meet the foreign ministers of Iran and Israel as well.