Russia fears UN's Iran report to hurt nuclear diplomacy

Russia fears a planned U.N. report which is expected to heighten suspicions about Iran's atomic aims will undermine Moscow's initiative to resolve the major powers' nuclear dispute with Tehran, diplomats said.

Russia's concern about the timing of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's report, due next month, contrasts with the hopes of Western states that it will strengthen their case to step up pressure on the Islamic state over its nuclear activities.

Western powers suspect Iran is using its nuclear programme to develop atomic weapons. Iran says it needs to refine uranium for a planned network of nuclear power plants.

Russia appeared worried that publication soon of a strongly worded report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would further sour relations with Tehran and damage any chances for diplomacy.

"We have concerns with regard to this report," a Russian diplomat said. Suggesting that it should be postponed, he said, "It is necessary to use all the possibilities in order to deepen the dialogue with the Iranian side."

China shared Russia's position, the diplomat said. China's mission to Vienna was not immediately available for comment.

Russia's view is a sign of differences among the six big powers involved in the search for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- on how to best approach the Iran issue.

Russia, which has commercial and other links with Iran, has proposed a step-by-step effort to defuse the nuclear standoff but Western diplomats have given the plan a cool response.

Moscow and Beijing have backed four rounds of U.N. sanctions on Iran since 2006 over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work that could have both civilian and military uses.

But they criticised the United States and the European Union last year for taking additional unilateral steps against the major oil producer and Moscow has signalled its opposition to any new U.N. Security Council sanctions.

"I think it is unlikely that Russia and China will consent to a new round of crippling sanctions before negotiations are given another chance," said Ali Vaez of the Federation of American Scientists, a Washington-based think tank.

RUSSIAN PLAN

The IAEA is expected in its next quarterly report on Iran to spell out in detail why it said last month that it is "increasingly concerned" that Iran may be seeking to develop nuclear missiles.

Western envoys said they expected a "very strong" document but that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano may stop short of explicitly declaring whether he believes Iran has been working on a nuclear weapons programme, as they would want him to.

They stressed that the report was still being drafted by IAEA experts and it could change. Member states cannot veto a report, but Amano may take their views into account.

More time was needed to test Iranian readiness to engage and Tehran should be involved before the report was made public, the Russian envoy said. But he suggested Moscow may favour future publication if Tehran showed lack of flexibility.

Since negotiations between the powers and Iran foundered in January, Russia has advocated a phased plan in which Tehran would address concerns that it may be seeking nuclear weapons, and be rewarded with an easing of sanctions.

The proposal, described by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Washington in July, seeks to revive negotiations to put to rest suspicions that Iran may be seeking nuclear arms.

Talks between Iran and the powers in Istanbul in January failed to make headway on reining in Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran has said it is willing to resume discussions, but its insistence that other countries recognise its right to enrich uranium is a major stumbling block, particularly for Western diplomats who see it as an unacceptable precondition.

They have raised doubts about the Russian plan's ability to defuse the long-running row.

"The Russian proposal does not appear to fly. I can't see any movement on the nuclear issue," said one diplomat.