Speaking at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on Thursday, he said: “Russia’s view is that the use of force would be totally unacceptable. The Middle East, the northern Caucasus and Europe would all be affected by military action.”
Though he said Russia is frustrated with Tehran’s persistent unwillingness to cooperate with the international community, he nevertheless called for increased dialogue between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran. “History has shown that sanctions have not always been effective, but could be counter-productive. Through cooperation with Iran, sanctions may become unnecessary,” Lavrov said.
He also urged the Council of Europe to continue working with Iran and noted “sanctions should only have one objective -- that is to spur Iran to resolve the issue and strengthen non-proliferation requirements.” He disagreed with a suggestion that further dialogue with Iran would be futile. Lavrov stressed, however, that there should be no violation of the non-proliferation regime. “Full information is required from Iran to ensure that its nuclear program is peaceful. When that is clear, Iran could acquire all the rights of other states party to the non-proliferation regime,” he added.
