[Unofficial translation from Russian.]

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Question: What can you say about the talks on Iran to be held in Paris today?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: A meeting of political directors of foreign affairs agencies of six countries, the European trio, Russia, China and the US, is due to take place in Paris today. It will examine ways to realize the agreement we already have in the framework of the Six on helping the IAEA via the UNSC to get the consent of Iran to cooperate fully on the Agency's remaining questions and on the measures which for this aim to be achieved the Security Council may adopt in addition to the resolution approved in July of this year.

We consider that such measures should, in line with the agreement we have, be concentrated on the areas which still evoke the concern of the IAEA. They are, first and foremost, uranium enrichment, chemical processing of irradiated fuel and technologies for creating a heavy water reactor. On all these issues, on all these three areas about which the IAEA still shows concern, we consider it necessary to approve the proposals on prevention of supplies of such technologies, materials and services from abroad to Iran. These are serious measures, they rest on Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations. We are convinced that they are commensurate. Once we agreed to support the IAEA, let us orient measures of pressure on Iran towards the opinion of the IAEA itself. Our western partners during the previous stages of work wanted to adopt against Iran wide-ranging sanctions which we believe are not commensurable with the real situation, not commensurate with the assessments that we hear from the IAEA and could only harm the cause. We all want to get talks resumed, and such a blanket approach to imposing bans on cooperation with Iran in the most diverse fields will only exacerbate the situation and we will achieve the opposite effect. We consider this incorrect. We will responsibly approach the agreements that were previously reached in the Six.

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