Iran: Russian support for sanctions 'unacceptable'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Russian support for new UN sanctions against his country was unacceptable and called on President Dmitry Medvedev to rethink his support for Washington's stance.

"We shouldn't see, at sensitive times, our neighbor (Russia) supporting those who have been against us, have shown animosity to us for 30 years. This is not acceptable for the Iranian nation. I hope they will pay attention and take corrective action," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the south-eastern city of Kerman.

"If I was in the place of Russian officials, I would adopt a more careful stance," the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying after a cabinet meeting.

The United States this week succeeded in forging a compromise with the other four permanent members of the Security Council for a fourth round of sanctions against Iran for its defiance in refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

That process can be used to produce fuel for nuclear reactors, but in highly refined form, enriched uranium can be used to make an atomic weapon. Tehran denies charges by the big powers that it has a covert atomic arms program.

'Obama should seize great opportunity'

Washington said that both Russia and China had backed a tough draft UN sanctions resolution against Iran.

It came a day after Brazil and Turkey – non-permanent Security Council members – signed a deal in Tehran for it to ship much of its low enriched uranium (LEU) abroad in exchange for fuel for a research reactor.

Ahmadinejad said the deal Iran made with Turkey and Brazil was a "great opportunity" that US President Barack Obama should seize.

The fourth round of sanctions would expand an existing arms embargo, measures against Iran's banking sector and ban it from mining uranium and developing ballistic missiles overseas, according to a US official in New York.

Medvedev on Monday gave a cautious welcome to the Tehran accord.

"This is the politics of a diplomatic solution to the Iran problem," he said. "We need to have consultations with all the parties, including Iran, and then determine what to do next."

Russia is building Iran's first nuclear power plant in the city of Bushehr, where the facility is expected to go online by August regardless of any new UN sanctions against Tehran, a top Russian atomic official said on Thursday.

Construction of the Bushehr plant began in the mid-1990s, but its launch has been marred by a series of delays, not least the standoff over Iran's nuclear activities.

Reuters and AFP contributed to this report