MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is calling on Iran to cooperate in full with the UN's nuclear watchdog and seriously consider the results of a recent meeting of its board of governors in Vienna, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
"We urge Iran to most seriously consider the results of the [IAEA] board of governors' session and to ensure full cooperation with the IAEA," the ministry said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency decided Wednesday to refer Iran's "nuclear file" to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions on Tehran if it is found to be in breach of its international commitments.
In response to the IAEA decision, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Iranian government was doing its best to defend Iranian people's right to peaceful nuclear technologies, despite "political pressure, propaganda and psychological warfare."
"From the very beginning, the West has been against scientific progress and economic growth in our country," Ahmadinejad said. "They do not want to see our young generation gain access to nuclear fuel technology."
Grigory Berdennikov, Russia's chief delegate to the IAEA, said Wednesday that Iran should be more transparent about its nuclear program. He also said that a Russian proposal to establish a joint venture to enrich Iranian uranium on its soil remained on the table.
The initiative is widely seen as a compromise in the crisis surrounding the Islamic Republic, which many in the West suspect of pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program, a claim that Tehran has consistently rejected. However, Russia warned that the proposal would only be valid if Iran agreed to give up nuclear research completely, whereas Iran has insisted that it will, nevertheless, enrich a small amount of uranium. 
Senior Iranian diplomats said previously that the Russian proposal would become meaningless if Iran's nuclear file were referred to the UN Security Council.
