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Moscow (CNSNews.com) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki pledged to boost bilateral cooperation after talks in Moscow on Monday.
"[B]ilateral exchanges should include all aspects of Russo-Iranian relations," Lavrov said, referring as well to recent negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York.
Mottaki described Iran and Russia as two major regional powers. "Iran's new government is determined to broaden ties with Russia as cooperation between the two countries contributes to stability, peace and security," he said.
Russo-Iranian talks in Moscow also focused on Iran's nuclear program. Not surprisingly, the meeting in Moscow was also attended by the Iranian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad-Mehdi Akhoundzadeh.
Lavrov said Moscow has pushed to have Iran's nuclear dossier considered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), implying that the Russians still opposed referring the issue to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Iranian officials have said they believe any attempt by the UNSC to examine its nuclear program would be politically motivated. The United States retains veto power on the Council.
Russia has urged Iran to resume talks with the European Union's three negotiating partners -- Britain, France and Germany -- over the Iranian nuclear program.
Iran's chief diplomat came up with some hard-line rhetoric in Moscow. In the event of Iran's nuclear dossier being referred to the UNSC, Iran might halt any further IAEA inspections, Mottaki told reporters. He added that Iran would not forfeit its legal right to create its own uranium reprocessing network.
After the talks with Putin, Hadley met with Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov. "The sides discussed a wide range of Russian-U.S. bilateral issues, including the joint fight against current challenges and coordination of anti-terrorism efforts," the Security Council's press service said. They also discussed a number of international problems, including the effort to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Hadley also met Monday with Lavrov. "We are conducting a wide discussion with Russia on this topic," Hadley was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency. "Our positions are similar, and we are agreed on the basic points," he said. Lavrov said the talks Monday were also aimed at preparing for a session of the Russian-U.S. working group for counter-terrorism in early December.
Washington is determined to convince Moscow that sanctions against Iran are necessary, while Moscow hopes to achieve a compromise solution with Tehran, which would deprive the United States of the rationale for seeking anti-Iranian actions at the UNSC, the daily wrote. Russia seems to be even more active than Iran itself in defending the Iranian nuclear program and is coming up with initiatives that could shield Iran, according to Kommersant.
Earlier this month, Putin welcomed continued dialogue with the U.S. over the Iranian issue. Russia and the United States have many common interests in fighting terrorism and settling regional matters, Putin told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Her agenda in Moscow focused on the Iranian nuclear problem, but Rice did not convince the Kremlin that the issue should be referred to the UNSC.
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