MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) - The UN Security Council resolution on Iran, adopted Saturday, fully reflects Russia's economic interests and keeps in force all the contracts signed earlier, the foreign minister said Monday.
On December 23, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution against Iran for refusing to suspend its nuclear research program. The resolution says all countries must stop supplying Iran with nuclear technology and materials that could enable the Islamic Republic to proceed with its suspected atomic weapons program.
"This resolution maintains the economic interests of Russia and other Iranian partners," Sergei Lavrov told a conference between the president and the government, adding that all the contracts signed earlier would remain valid, including the project to construct an $800-million light-water reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant and a contract on supplies of Russian defense systems Tor-M1 and S-300.
"The resolution contains a special provision that all contracts signed by the time the resolution was adopted will remain in force and will be implemented," he said.
The final, revised version prohibits all programs related to nuclear weapons but allows Iranian officials to travel abroad, and imposes no ban on Iranian companies' international trade.
"The resolution calls on Iran to suspend [uranium enrichment] efforts until the International Atomic Energy Agency's concerns have been removed," Lavrov said.
He said if Iran observed the resolution, the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, would temporarily abolish the ban and might re-start negotiations.
Lavrov said it took the 15-member UN Security Council a few months to achieve a compromise on the issue.
"It is not a simple question because we had to balance between three targets - to prevent proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction, to leave room for further negotiations with Iran and to avoid damage to legitimate ties with Iran in various areas," the minister said.
The resolution also bans all activities related to uranium enrichment, chemical reprocessing, and the construction of heavy-water reactors and nuclear weapons delivery vehicles.
