[Again we see that when it comes to the critical moment, Russia stands by their secret friend. Russia did the same with Iraq. They want Iran to be a thorn in the USA’s side forever and they don’t want effective action taken against it. Jan]

And here is not a big surprise coming from Russia defending Iran in the U.N., this time against any harsher sanctions:

How suicidal is it for Israeli leaders to go and “get help” from Russia on the Iranian nuke crisis? MH, USA

Russia against sanctions on Iran

Sunday, October 22, 2006 (Moscow):

Russia will not allow the UN Security Council to be used to punish Iran over its nuclear programme, the foreign minister said.

“We won’t be able to support and will oppose any attempts to use the Security Council to punish Iran or use Iran’s programme in order to promote the ideas of regime change there,” Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Kuwaiti News Agency KUNA.

Russia was ready to discuss ways to pressure Iran into accepting a broader international oversight of its nuclear programme.

He said “any measures of influence should encourage creating conditions for talks,” Lavrov said Friday.

On Saturday, Lavrov had lunch with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited Moscow in a bid to persuade Russia to approve UN sanctions on Iran.

Draft resolution

The Security Council is expected to consider a draft resolution on sanctions next week.

Russia, which along with China has close economic ties with Iran, has resisted US-led calls for punitive measures against Tehran.

In his interview with KUNA, Lavrov said Iran should be pushed to cooperate more closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency to allay international concerns about its nuclear programme.

Tehran says its uranium enrichment programme is aimed at generating electricity, while the United States and others suspect it’s a cover for building atomic weapons.

“There is no proof that Iran is pursuing a military nuclear programme. There are suspicions and questions that have not yet been answered,” Lavrov said.

He added that Moscow was urging Iran to fully respond to all queries of the international nuclear watchdog.

“But all this doesn’t mean that we could talk about a threat to peace and security, while only such a threat could justify the application of sanctions,” he said.

Lavrov warned that the atomic ambitions of many nations were being driven by their security concerns.

“An increasing number of nations are thinking about ways to ensure their security in conditions when a factor of force is becoming increasingly visible in international relations,” he said.

“All that is going on as international relations are becoming increasingly loaded with ideology which is fraught with a conflict between civilizations.” (AP)

Source: Associated Press
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.as…/p>