SOFIA, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister said Friday that the next meeting of the six nations seeking to resolve the crisis around Iran's controversial nuclear programs would consider inviting other members of the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"The meeting will discuss additional proposals on inviting other UN and the IAEA members to review these [Iranian program] issues," Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in the Bulgarian capital.
The May 2 meeting in Paris will involve the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, which alongside the United Kingdom and France is a member of the EU3 seeking to end the standoff.
The diplomats will confer over the report by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to the UN Security Council on Iran's compliance with the council's demand to suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States, France, and Britain are pushing for economic sanctions against defiant Tehran. Russia and China, the other permanent veto-holding members of the Security Council, have opposed sanctions.
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the IAEA should play the main role in efforts to ease the long-running crisis.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency plays ... the key role. It should not put these problems off and shift them onto the shoulders of the UN Security Council," he said.
