Putin terms IAEA decision on Iran "balanced"

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he viewed the UN nuclear watchdog's decision to report Iran to the UN Security Council as "balanced" and he will explain the decision to Iran.

"The dossier has not been referred (to the UN Security Council). It is just a matter of notifying the Security Council about joint work on the Iranian dossier. This is the essential difference," Putin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"To my mind, that enables us to continue searching for ways to settle the issue," he added.

Russia is cooperating with the EU troika and the United States and will explain the essence of this decision to Iranian partners, Putin said.

Iran announced following the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s decision on Saturday that it had ended all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, including snap UN inspections of its nuclear sites and suspension of uranium enrichment.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on Monday that Tehran has informed the IAEA of its decision to resume full- scale uranium enrichment.

Russia is helping Iran build its first nuclear power plant and proposed that uranium enrichment -- the most sensitive part of the nuclear fuel cycle -- be carried out under a joint venture on the former Soviet republic's soil.

Russian officials said after the IAEA vote that the proposal still stood and that they expect talks with Iran on the proposal to be held next week.

Source: Xinhua