Russia said on Friday it regretted Iran's decision not to agree to suspend its uranium enrichment by Thursday's U.N. deadline, but maintained that sanctions were not the best choice in ending the nuclear standoff with Iran.

"We express our regret that Iran did not abide by (the U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1696 and has not ended its work on enriching uranium by the deadline set out in that document," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Consultations would be held between the six nations that had offered Iran an incentives package in exchange for a freeze on enrichment -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- and in the UN Security Council over the next few days to decide what further steps should be taken, Kamynin said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Thursday referred a report on Iran's response to the resolution to the U.N. Security Council and the world nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors.

Details of the report were not made public, but diplomats in Vienna said Iran had disregarded the resolution to stop enriching uranium before the August 31 deadline.

The diplomats said ElBaradei's report swept away the obstructions blocking sanctions against Iran, but some analysts believed that the six powers had not yet reached a consensus on the issue.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that sanctions were not the best way to resolve international disputes.

"Taking past experience into consideration, we cannot issue ultimatums, which lead to a deadlock," Lavrov was quoted by Interfax as saying in a speech at the Moscow State University of International Relations.

"Indeed, there are countries whose policies raise questions and cause discontent. We all live in one world and it is necessary to search for settlement through dialogue, not through isolation or sanctions," he said.

Speaking later to reporters, Lavrov also said: "We want to guarantee the stability of the nuclear nonproliferation regime while respecting the right of every nation participating in the Non-Proliferation Treaty in good faith to [work towards the] peaceful development of nuclear energy."

The U.N. Security Council ratified the resolution on Iran's nuclear issue in July, which urged Tehran to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment by August 31 or face possible sanctions.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said talking about sanctions was premature.

"In my opinion, the issue of sanctions against Iran is not acute. It is necessary to wait for a meeting of the six countries' foreign ministers, which is due to take place in Vienna on September 6," he said.

The United States accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under a civilian front, but Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating power to meet a surging domestic demand.

Source: Xinhua