TEHRAN (FNA) - Russia announced on Saturday it supports Tehran and Washington’s direct talks provided that it is performed in a respectful atmosphere and away from threats.

Speaking to the Islamic republic news agency, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko pointed out that the U.S. has double-standard policies towards Iran, and underlined that Tehran’s nuclear issue should be solved just through negotiations.
Noting that Russia will not agree with new UN Security council sanctions against Iran, he reiterated that Moscow’s stand on this issue is transparent and the language of sanctions is not accepted by his country.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has recently said that Iran’s nuclear activities are in conformity with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
He has also said that Iran has recently had vast cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in order to remove ambiguities about its nuclear program and build the other side’s confidence.
Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West’s illegitimate calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.