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Russia welcomes new nuclear resolution on Iran
MOSCOW (AFP) Jun 18, 2004
Russia on Friday welcomed a tough new resolution adopted by the UN atomic agency rebuking Iran for not fully cooperating with the international community about its nuclear program.

Russia, under international pressure to end its nuclear cooperation with Iran -- which Washington claims is trying to develop a secret atomic weapons program -- said the new resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should improve cooperation between Tehran and the world community.

"The most important thing is that this resolution is meant to resolve all questions that the international community has about Iran's nuclear program," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak told the Interfax news agency.

"We believe that this will be done, as relations between the IAEA and Iran continue to develop," he said.

Russia has been under pressure to halt construction of Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor until the IAEA is fully satisfied that Tehran is not hiding its potential nuclear weapons ambition, or using the project to develop an atomic bomb.

The resolution by the IAEA's 35-member board deplored the level of Iranian cooperation and called for the agency's 15-month-old investigation into Iran's nuclear activities to be wrapped up within a few months.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi criticized the text but said Iran would meet its commitments to the IAEA.

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