Russia does not intend to continue the discussion of sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council (UNSC), Vitaly Churkin said Wednesday.
He said that sanctions against Tehran have exhausted themselves, urging the resumption of negotiations between Iran and the six major powers over the nuclear issue.
The diplomat also pointed out that there was no acute tension about the Iranian issue in the UN Security Council.
Iran and the P5+1 - Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany - held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010 and in the Turkish city of Istanbul last January.
The two sides have agreed to hold yet another round of talks, probably in Turkey.
Tehran says it is ready to continue the talks based on common ground, adding, however, that it has no intention of backing down on its nuclear rights.
The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to sway the UNSC to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.
As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran maintains that it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
press tv/281
Publish Date: 2 February 2012 - 22:21
Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations has expressed Moscow's opposition to further UN sanctions against Iran and called for the resumption of talks over Tehran's nuclear program.