Iran disapproves of Moscow’s stance

TEHRAN, June 6 (MNA) -- Iran’s ambassador to Russia has called Moscow’s stance toward Iran’s nuclear program questionable.

“Lack of trust in Russia and the fact that this country has reneged on its promises prompted Iran to replace Moscow with Brasilia and Ankara to reach the Tehran agreement (on a nuclear fuel swap),” Ambassador Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said in an interview with Izvestia last week.

Iran preferred to reach an agreement with Russia over the nuclear fuel swap, but some events happened that impeded progress in the negotiations, most notably, Moscow did not give Iran objective assurances, he explained.

And while the negotiations were still underway, Russia encouraged the International Atomic Energy Organization to issue a strongly-worded statement against Iran, and this was another reason why Turkey and Brazil were selected to take the place of Russia, he added.

Commenting on Iran’s diplomatic relations with Russia, he said, “Currently, the relationship is not that promising. (Iranian) people and officials ask why some Russian officials make remarks against Iran.”

Another question is why Russia does not meet its commitments, like the delivery of the S-300 missile defense systems, he added.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said on Saturday that there is international agreement on imposing sanctions on Iran.

Medvedev’s comments came after he held two days of talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.