MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Moscow and Tehran believe that the use of military force by Iran's opponents as a means of conflict resolution is unacceptable and reject external threats to bomb the country's nuclear energy infrastructure, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The sides stressed the illegality and inadmissibility of the use of military force by Iran's opponents to resolve disagreements and the unacceptability of threats from the outside to bomb Iran's nuclear energy infrastructure, as this will inevitably lead to large-scale and irreversible radiological and humanitarian consequences for the entire Middle East region and the world as a whole," said a statement issued after a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and his Iranian counterpart Majid Takht-Ravanchi.
The parties also confirmed the course set at the high-level consultations between Russia, China and Iran on March 14 in Beijing to find "viable, sustainable negotiated solutions" that dispel Western prejudices and misunderstandings regarding the Iranian nuclear program, while taking due account of Tehran's legitimate right to the peaceful use of atomic energy arising from the country's participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The situation around the Iranian nuclear program continued to be discussed in detail, with an emphasis on possible joint steps to stabilize and reduce tensions that have been artificially and unreasonably fomented by Western countries, which diligently conceal their numerous gross violations of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and try to manipulate the authority and verification capabilities of the IAEA for opportunistic political purposes," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The statement said the parties agreed to continue close coordination.