Russia urges Iran to investigate UK Embassy attack

PanARMENIAN.Net - Increasing tensions and Western pressure are undermining the chances Iran will cooperate with efforts to ensure it is not seeking nuclear weapons, Russia said on Thursday.

"We speak out categorically against cranking up a spiral of tension and confrontation on issues linked with Iran. We believe that this ... is fraught with severe consequences," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a news briefing.

Lukashevich said the storming of Britain's embassy in Tehran on Tuesday could not be justified. "The increasing tensions in relations with Tehran is essentially blocking the renewal of talks" between Iran and six global powers leading efforts to ensure Iran abides by commitments not to seek nuclear arms, he said.

Lukashevich said Tehran was not answering the world's questions about its nuclear programme but suggested the West deserved much of the blame for the growing tensions.

He repeated Russia's criticism of a recent IAEA report that deepened Western fears Tehran wants to build a nuclear bomb, as well as its opposition to U.S. and European sanctions and its anger over talk of a potential military strike against Iran.

"We are talking about the counterproductive, ill-timed and weakly based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report," Lukashevich said.

"We are also talking about the imposition by some states of extra-territorial, unilateral sanctions ... and the completely unacceptable threats of the use of force against Iran."

Britain urged the European Union on Thursday to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. China warned against "emotionally charged actions" that might aggravate a row between London and Tehran.

Russia urged Iran to investigate the attack on Tuesday in which a crowd ransacked offices and burned British flags in a protest over British sanctions.

"We have condemned the illegal incursion by demonstrators. Such actions are seditious and cannot be justified," Lukashevich said.

He said security at the Russian embassy in Tehran would be increased. "Russia and Iran have good, partner-like relations and a shared history," he said.

Russia and China approved four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, after working together to blunt tougher Western proposals.

Moscow, which built the Islamic nation's first nuclear power plant, opposes further sanctions. It is calling for a step-by-step process in which existing sanctions would be eased in return for actions by Iran to dispel the concerns it could be seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran says its programme is aimed at increasing electricity production, Reuters reported.