No force against Iran: Russia

The Australian

TALKS between six world powers in Vienna on the Iranian nuclear issue excluded all recourse to force as a method of solving the problem, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. "I can unequivocally say that all the agreements from yesterday's meeting in all circumstances exclude the use of military force" against Iran, he was quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.

Speaking after world powers agreed on a package of incentives and sanctions to get Iran to suspend nuclear fuel work, Mr Lavrov said that Iran had not been presented with any kind of deadline. "There is no kind of ultimatum deadline, although I think we are talking about several weeks," he said. The Foreign Minister refused to be drawn on what measures might be taken if Iran refused the international community's proposals.

"At the moment we won't guess because such guesses pour oil on the fire of emotional discussions and give a reason for those who want to destroy the possibility of a negotiated resolution," he said. Mr Lavrov was among the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany that met in Vienna to plot a way forward in the Iran nuclear crisis.

The agreement by six of the world's most powerful nations capped months of diplomacy during which the United States had tried to meet Russian and Chinese demands to avoid a showdown over Iran's nuclear program. Iran insists it is only seeking a civilian nuclear energy programme, but the United States suspects Tehran is really trying to develop nuclear weapons.