Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says his country is ready to consider
new sanctions against Iran if persuasion fails to stop the Iranian
government from enriching uranium.
Western nations have been pushing the U.N. Security Council to further
punish the Iranian government for its nuclear program, but Russia has
been reluctant to support tougher sanctions.
Mr. Medvedev signaled Moscow's shift Monday in Paris outside a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the International Atomic Energy Agency's new chief, said Monday
it is impossible to verify whether that is true, because Tehran is not
cooperating with the agency.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran has fully cooperated with the IAEA, and will continue doing so.
Amano criticized Iran in his first address to the group's board of governors in Vienna.
The IAEA asserted for the first time last month that Iran may be trying
to build a nuclear bomb. The agency previously suggested Iran's pursuit
of nuclear weapons happened in the past.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Iran is facing the possibility of new U.N. sanctions as Washington
lobbies international support to punish Tehran for its uranium
enrichment activities.
Enriched uranium is a key component of nuclear bombs.
Iran has refused to accept an IAEA-brokered deal to ship most of its
enriched uranium to Russia and France to be processed into fuel for a
medical research reactor.
The plan was designed to curb Iran's ability to use the uranium for military purposes.
Iranian media reported Monday that Tehran sent the IAEA a letter,
explaining that the government does not trust Western states with its
nuclear fuel supply.