MOSCOW. May 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Russian-Iranian cooperation in construction projects does not provide any reason for criticism on the part of third countries, including the United States.
"There are no grounds for complaint. We have said this to representatives of the U.S. and other nations who have voiced concern over" such cooperation, Ivanov told Interfax on Wednesday.
Russia's position on nuclear cooperation with Iran is well known, Ivanov said. "Russia is cooperating in this field with Iran strictly within the framework of peaceful programs and under the control of the IAEA. We are against violating the regime of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons," he said.
Russia also wants all nuclear programs pursued by Iran to be controlled by the IAEA, Ivanov said. "If this were so, nobody would have any concerns about these programs," he said.
All such problems should be settled via diplomatic channels so as not to exacerbate the situation in any particular region, Ivanov said. "This concerns both the Korean Peninsula and Iran," he said.
Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State Richard Boucher earlier stated that Russia and all other countries should stop all forms of cooperation with Iran in the nuclear sphere.