CNN.com - Iran crisis: World powers at odds

Aerial photo of Natanz nuclear complex, where Iran resumed operations last week

• Q&A: What next in Iran crisis

• Israel: Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons

• TIME.com: Iran silences critics at home

• Iran 'not ruling out Russia enrichment'

• Saudi urges Iran to forgo nukes

QUICKVOTE

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Sanctions are not the best way to resolve international concerns over Iran's resumption of its nuclear program, Russia and China have said.

Their comments revealed a lack of consensus among world powers about how to deal with the mounting crisis.

The two countries, both permanent veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council, were reacting Tuesday to an announcement by Britain, France and Germany that they would call for an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) next month.

Last week, Iran decided to restart its nuclear program after a two-year suspension while it conducted talks with the European countries.

The West says that Iran breached the Non-Proliferation Treaty by not divulging full details of its nuclear program and fears the Islamic nation wants to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran says it only intends to develop civilian nuclear power plants.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran's decision to resume nuclear fuel research was legal and "irreversible."

But while Washington and the three European countries say the IAEA should refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible punitive action, such as sanctions, there appears to be division about the future steps. (What next?)

"Sanctions are not the best or the only way to solve international problems," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday.

"The question of sanctions against Iran puts the cart before the horse," news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov said years of international sanctions against Iraq had failed to change the behavior of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Reuters reported.

"Our common goal is to ensure the inviolability of the nuclear nonproliferation regime," The Associated Press quoted him as saying.

"If we all strive for this main goal, we will be able to find a collective approach to solving this issue."

Beijing on Tuesday also indicated it preferred diplomacy over sanctions to resolve the situation.

"We think the most urgent thing for all the parties now is still to keep patient and make utmost efforts to resume the negotiations between the EU3 and Iran," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, according to Reuters.

"We hope the Iranian side can cooperate with the efforts by the international community to restart the diplomatic negotiations and resolve the nuclear issue properly," Kong said.

Beijing said last week that referring Iran to the Security Council might "complicate the issue."

China gets 12 percent of its oil imports from Iran, while Russia has a $1 billion stake in building Iran's first atomic reactor.

Iran urged the EU on Tuesday to resume talks, prompting a frosty response from Britain and Russia.

A senior British official said the Iranian offer, contained in a letter from Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was "vacuous."

Russia's Lavrov said Tehran should first cease the research it resumed last week in defiance of world powers.

"Talks presuppose an obligation. The Iranian obligation was to stick to the moratorium," Lavrov was reported by Reuters as saying. "Now Iran (has departed from) the moratorium on scientific research."

Britain, France and Germany abandoned talks last week after Tehran removed U.N. seals on uranium enrichment equipment.

Britain remains convinced Iran should be brought before the Security Council over its nuclear program and has begun drafting a resolution to do so, a senior foreign office official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said the UK remained open to a negotiated solution that would avoid referring Iran to the Security Council.

"Our ideal outcome is a diplomatic solution," the AP quoted the spokesman as saying on condition of anonymity.

"A diplomatic solution has to mean that Iran abides by its international obligations. That is the test. If someone, if Iran, wants to come up with a solution that meets that test, fine. It does have to meet that test."

The latest comments come a day after Britain, France and Germany said they would call for an emergency meeting of the IAEA over Iran on February 2-3.

IAEA spokeswoman Tracy Brown said any country or countries could call for a meeting of the agency's board of governors, but that did not guarantee a meeting.

The board will make a decision on whether to hold the meeting, she said, adding that such decisions depend on various criteria, including the subject and "the urgency."

The United States and the EU3 had sought to persuade Russia and China to agree to a referral on Monday, CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley said.

Israel and other countries in the Middle East have urged Iran to suspend its program. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that his country could not tolerate the threat of an Iran with nuclear weapons. (Full story)

Gernot Erler, Germany's deputy foreign minister, described the talks as "difficult."

"We said we will keep talking about what should be decided there and what the role of the United Nations should be," the AP quoted Erler as telling German television.

"That is an indication that we were unable to fully agree what the actual aim of an IAEA resolution is, but that we need more time."

British officials would not confirm that the process of drafting a resolution for the IAEA meeting had begun.

They said more discussions with all 35 board members would continue right up to the IAEA meeting in Vienna and that there was a "huge amount of talk" to come.

The U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China are the five permanent members of the Security Council and have the power to veto council resolutions.

Tehran has threatened to force world oil prices higher if the Security Council imposes sanctions against it.

"Any possible sanctions on Iran from the West could possibly, by disturbing Iran's political and economic situation, raise oil prices beyond levels the West expects," local news reports and wire services quoted Economy Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari as telling state-run radio.

Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Russia proposal

Iran resumed operations at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant last week and insists its activities are aimed only at research for a civil nuclear energy program.

But the United States and much of Europe are concerned that the activities are a guise for building a nuclear weapon. Negotiations between Tehran and the EU3 on the subject broke down late last year.

Iran's nuclear program also was addressed in talks Monday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Putin said Iran had not excluded the possibility of conducting its uranium enrichment in Russia, a proposal that could provide a way out of the escalating international tensions.

The Russian leader also advised treating Iran with caution. "In the Iranian nuclear issue, we need to work very carefully and without taking any abrupt, erroneous steps," Putin said. (Full story)

The Russian proposal, backed by the Europeans and the United States, is aimed at getting Iran to move uranium enrichment completely out of its territory to ensure that its nuclear program cannot produce weapons.

Iran crisis: World powers at odds

RELATED

QUICKVOTE

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

Russia proposal