Russia on Monday urged Iran not to suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) so as to look for an early settlement of its nuclear issue.

Teheran's further cooperation with the IAEA, particularly the observance of the Additional Protocol to the Safeguards Agreement, will facilitate the normalization of the situation regarding the nuclear program, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Last week, Iran's parliament began to debate on a bill calling on the government to withdraw from the Additional Protocol, should Iran be further pressured to give up its right to develop a national nuclear fuel cycle.

Russia warned Iran that ignoring the protocol it signed with the IAEA in 2003 would be an act counterproductive to the settlement of its nuclear problem with the IAEA.

The protocol requires any signatory country to report all its nuclear facilities to the IAEA and to allow short-notice, intrusive inspections.

The meeting of the Group of Eight held recently in Vienna failed to persuade Russia to agree with handing over the Iranian nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council.

Russia, still seeing room for diplomacy in settlement of the issue, is convinced that solving Tehran's nuclear crisis is a matter for IAEA, not for the Security Council.

Source: Xinhua