Russia's Lavrov warns against any new US strike on Iran

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview made public on Wednesday, said that any new U.S. strike on Iran would have serious consequences and called for restraint to find a solution to enable Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme.

Lavrov’s interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television was aired a day after U.S. and Iranian negotiators held indirect talks in Geneva to head off a new mounting crisis between Washington and Tehran.

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“The consequences are not good. There have already been strikes on Iran on nuclear sites under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. From what we can judge there were real risks of a nuclear incident,” Lavrov said in the interview, which was posted on his ministry’s website.

“I am carefully watching reactions in the region from Arab countries, Gulf monarchies. No one wants an increase in tension. Everyone understands this is playing with fire.”

Boosting tensions, he said, could undo the positive steps of recent years, including improved relations between Iran and nearby countries, notably Saudi Arabia.

A senior U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran was expected to submit a written proposal on how to resolve its standoff with the United States after the talks in Geneva.

U.S. national security advisers met in the White House on Wednesday and were told all U.S. military forces deployed to the region should be in place by mid-March, the official said.

The United States wants Iran to give up its nuclear programme, and Iran has adamantly refused and denied it is trying to develop an atomic weapon.

Lavrov said Arab countries were sending signals to Washington “clearly calling for restraint and a search for an agreement that will not infringe on Iran’s lawful rights and … guarantee that Iran has a purely peaceful nuclear enrichment programme”.

Russia, he said, remained in close, regular contact with Iran’s leaders “and we have no reason to doubt that Iran sincerely wants to resolve this problem on the basis of observing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Christian Schmollinger

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