Russia urges Iran to show 'good will' in resolving nuclear dispute

Russia's foreign minister on Thursday urged Iran to show good will in resolving the dispute over its nuclear program, as a senior Iranian envoy held talks in Moscow.

Photo: Russia urges Iran to show 'good will' in resolving nuclear dispute

Sergey Lavrov told Ali Akbar Velayati, an envoy of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Moscow hoped for a positive response in Tehran to its efforts to achieve a solution.

President Vladimir Putin last week said that Moscow backed a "time-out" proposed by the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency that calls for holding off on imposing U.N. sanctions if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment in its nuclear program.

"We sent corresponding signals to Tehran ... with good will on all sides, we can find a fair solution based on international law," Lavrov said at the start of his talks with Velayati, reports AP.

In December, Russia supported a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing limited sanctions against Iran, after it ignored calls to halt uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for atomic power stations or nuclear warheads.

But that support came only after an initial proposal was dropped that would have imposed curbs on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, which Russia is helping build under a US$1 billion (EUR 770 million) contract.