Russia: G8 not proper venue for Iran talks

"The forum recognized by everyone concerning Iran's nuclear program is, first of all, the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Security Council at the UN that has already adopted several resolutions to support the IAEA and the Group 5+1. So, it would not be ethical for us during the meeting to make a decision on Iran ahead of time."

Following a meeting in Canada, the G8 foreign ministers issued a not so forceful statement on Monday regarding Iran's nuclear work.

The statement said that the G8, consisting of the US, Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Britain and Italy, was "open to dialogue" with Iran but also urged Tehran to further cooperate over its nuclear work.

"Ministers agreed to remain open to dialogue, and also reaffirmed the need to take appropriate and strong steps to demonstrate international resolve to uphold the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and persuade Iran to build greater international confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program," according to the statement.

This comes as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the end of talks on Tuesday predicted that the UN Security Council members would reach consensus over fresh sanctions against Iran.

"I think that the next weeks will be ones of intense negotiation in the Security Council among not only members of the Security Council but many interested countries."

"…I express my optimism that we're going to have a consensus reached in the Security Council," she said.

The US, which accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, has been lobbying for more UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Tehran.

US-led calls have, however, received a chilly reception from China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, which insists that diplomacy can still work to solve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Russia, another permanent member of the UNSC, has also been reluctant to more sanctions against Iran.

Iran says any punitive measures against the country are legally baseless as Tehran's nuclear work is being fully monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog.


/Press TV/