Iran sanctions must exclude force: Russia http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-06T090004Z_01_L06784257_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml&archived=False
Wed Sep 6, 2006
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Any economic sanctions adopted against Iran over its nuclear program must rule out the use of force, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
Lavrov, speaking to reporters on a visit to South Africa, said any sanctions would be governed by the United Nations charter which "states unequivocally that economic measures exclude the use of force".
"As to whether we use these (sanctions) or not still needs to be defined because any impact must be commensurate to the presence of a real threat to international security," Lavrov said.
Reiterating the Russian position, he added that Russia "unambiguously prefers the path of negotiations for the resolution of the Iranian problem." Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council along with Britain, China, France and the United States.
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