Friday, October 6 2006 12:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Warsaw (Poland): Russia remains opposed to sanctions against Iran in the dispute over its nuclear program, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday (Oct 5, 2006), although Britain said the U.N. Security Council would start discussing a sanctions resolution against Tehran next week.

"I expect the Iranian dossier to reemerge in New York in the course of next week," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said at the U.N.

Lavrov, speaking before Parry's comments, said during a visit to Warsaw.

"I think that until all diplomatic possibilities have been exhausted, sanctions would be extreme. I think we need to do all we can to push Iran toward starting negotiation,'' he said.

Lavrov's remarks showed the continuing cracks in the six-country group seeking to pressure Iran to stop enriching uranium.

France took a middle line, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei saying any measures against Iran must be progressive, proportionate and reversible'' without specifying what those steps might be.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said today that dialogue with Iran must continue even if nuclear talks fail.

"The time of negotiations of course is not infinite, but we'll try to do the utmost,'' Solana said after talks in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema.

"I think that even if we fail now we should keep the doors open for dialogue with Iran,'' he said.

"We shall not spare any effort to try to move forward when it is possible, it is not possible at the moment, but that doesn't mean it will not be possible later,'' he said.

Solana said yesterday that 'endless hours' of nuclear talks with Iran aimed at pressuring Iran to halt uranium enrichment had failed to make any progress.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is meant only to produce fuel for energy. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned the West that any possible sanctions would not stop his government from enriching uranium.

The five permanent Security Council members the US, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany are seeking to persuade Iran to accept incentives in return for halting enrichment. Iran missed an Aug. 31 deadline to take them up on the offer.

Lavrov said he and his Polish counterpart discussed a meeting to be held tomorrow among the six major powers in London to talk about the next step in the Iran crisis. But other European foreign ministries did not confirm that a meeting was on.

Several rounds of talks with Iran headed by Solana had been seen as a last-ditch attempt to avoid a full-blown confrontation between Tehran and the U.N. Security Council. With no sign that Iran is prepared to give way, the U.S and Britain favor moving ahead with punitive measures but Russia and China both major commercial partners of Iran have been reluctant.