Iran wants to settle the dispute over its nuclear program through negotiations with the help of Europe, Russia and China, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said on Wednesday.

"We stand for negotiations and emphasize that issues of this kind cannot be referred to the UN Security Council just because of imagination about (Iran's) intentions," Gholamreza Ansari said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

Tehran "is against nuclear weapons and believes nuclear arms threaten the security of the country," Ansari added.

The United States accuses Iran of running a covert nuclear arms program. Iran, however, says its nuclear work is designed merely to meet its energy needs.

The European Union has called for an emergency session of the International Atomic Energy Agency to vote on referring Iran to the Security Council to face possible sanctions after Iran resumed sensitive nuclear research last week.

Iran will view a referral of its nuclear dossier to the council as "a hostile move," Ansari said.

"We hope that Iran will be able to settle this issue by political and diplomatic means with the assistance of Europe, Russia and China," the diplomat said.

Source: Xinhua