Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he could not confirm reports that a delegation from Iran would visit Moscow to discuss international sanctions.
"I am not aware that a special delegation from Tehran is going to visit Moscow," he said adding that Russia had "normal relations with Iran" and that regular contacts were maintained.
On the issue of sanctions, he said the UN Security Council would not wait forever and would impose sanctions on Iran if the country took no action to independently resolve its nuclear problem.
The United States and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program and are seeking new sanctions following Iran's move to enrich uranium to 20%.
The Iran Six (France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China) began on April 19 discussing the text of a draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.
Russia and China insist on resolving Iran's nuclear issue peacefully, but the United States, Britain, France and Germany are pushing for harsher sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said sanctions against Iran would at some stage be "inevitable" though he personally "wouldn't like to see sanctions imposed."
He said possible sanctions against the Islamic republic "should ensure nuclear nonproliferation rather than punish the Iranian nation."
MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti)
