Russian Defence Minister accuses the west of double standards towards Iran

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has accused the West of pursuing a double standards policy in regard to Iran.

"A number of European countries deliver to Iran the materials banned by all international regimes," Sergei Ivanov told the reporters who accompanied him during his visit to Canada.

"If Russia had exported such products to that country, the toughest sanctions would have been taken against it," underscored the Defence Minister. "I mean in particular the gas centrifuges which have appeared in Iran though their export has been banned by the IAEA, because they can be used for the production of nuclear weapons," explained the Russian minister.

Sergei Ivanov said Russia strictly observed the tough IAEA regulations." "There will be no deliveries of nuclear fuel to Bushehr until Iran signs a protocol on returning spent nuclear fuel to Russia," underscored the minister.

"We are decidedly against the proliferation of the technologies which can help develop nuclear weapons," he added.

At the same time, Sergei Ivanov pointed out that "Russian-Iranian cooperation in atomic energy (without which, in his opinion, it is impossible to manage in our days) does not lead to the development of nuclear weapons." "We regard the attempts to make Russia give up its cooperation with Iran in the sphere of atomic energy as unfair competition. As to the appearance in Iran of the technologies which can be used for developing weapons of mass destruction, this does not meet our national interests," said Sergei Ivanov.