Wednesday, March 22 2006 19:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Russia will not support the latest version of a US-proposed draft statement on the Iranian nuclear issue which could lead to the United Nations slapping sanctions on Tehran, its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here today (Mar 22 2006).

"We will hardly support this draft resolution," Lavrov told sources here while briefing on President Vladimir Putin's ongoing visit to China, which he described as successful in strengthening the bilateral strategic ties.

"It is really categorical. The draft includes points that effectively lay the groundwork for sanctions against Iran. We will hardly be able to support this version of the draft (statement)," he said.

Lavrov called "ultimatum" the terms that the draft resolution sets for Iran.

"This draft already contains the wordings that actually provide the grounds for sanctions, we believe it premature," he pointed out.

According to him, the provisions of the UN Security Council's draft resolution "Actually hand over the Iranian nuclear problem from the IAEA to the UN Security Council. It is not right," Lavrov said.

Lavrov's comments on Iran come amid a joint bid by China and Russia to give diplomacy more chance to peacefully resolve the Iranian nuclear issue within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

After more than two weeks of discussions, the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council, China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France, have disagreed on a final draft statement on how to deal with Iranian nuclear issue.

"China and Russia have common views on how to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday.

"Our objectives are to solve the issue in a peaceful way through negotiations," he said, prior to the joint statement issued by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Putin, urging the international community to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means.