Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced as "counter-productive" moves by the United States and the European Union to report Iran's nuclear programme to the U.N. Security Council, RIA Novosti news agency said. Involving the Security Council, which can impose sanctions, would lead to "unnecessary politicizing" while Iran was still cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and had yet to start uranium enrichment, the most sensitive part of the nuclear fuel cycle, Lavrov said. Russia, which is building a $1 billion nuclear reactor for Iran and sees it as a key ally in the Middle East, is a permanent member of the Council and can use its veto to block any move against Iran. The EU circulated a draft resolution on Tuesday calling on the IAEA to report the programme to the Security Council. Iran reacted angrily, warning it might pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and resume enrichment. "While Iran is cooperating with the IAEA, while it is not enriching uranium and observing a moratorium, while IAEA inspectors are working in the country, it would be counter-productive to report this question to the U.N. Security Council," Lavrov was quoted on Wednesday as saying in a speech in San Francisco. "It will lead to an unnecessary politicizing of the situation. Iran is not violating its obligations and its actions do not threaten the non-proliferation regime," he said in a speech at Stanford University. The EU draft, obtained by Reuters, asks the IAEA "to report to all members of the agency and to the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations ... Iran's many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply with its NPT Safeguards Agreement".
