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Russia supports ban on uranium enrichment technologies for Iran

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Russia backs the idea of banning exports of uranium enrichment technologies to Iran, the foreign minister said Tuesday.
MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia backs the idea of banning exports of uranium enrichment technologies to Iran, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

"We approve of proposals to ban deliveries of uranium enrichment technologies, materials and services, chemical processing of irradiated fuel, and technologies for heavy-water reactors to Iran," Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting in Paris of deputy foreign ministers of the six parties to talks on Iran's nuclear program.

The minister said Iran's uranium enrichment activities had repeatedly provoked concern in the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he said still has questions on the country's controversial nuclear program.

However, Lavrov warned against adopting wide-scale sanctions, which he said could have the opposite of the desired effect.

Iran remains at the center of an international dispute over its uranium enrichment, which some countries suspect is a cover for a nuclear weapons program. Tehran has consistently denied the claims, and says it needs nuclear energy for electricity.

Although Russia and China, veto-holding Security Council members and key economic partners of Iran, have been reluctant to resort to punitive measures, Lavrov admitted earlier that Moscow could approve sanctions if the Islamic Republic refused to soften its stance.

France, Germany and Britain have proposed a new draft UN resolution on sanctions against Iran, which includes banning the sale of missile and nuclear technologies to the country, freezing Tehran's military bank accounts, and imposing visa restrictions on officials linked to the nuclear industry.

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