October 31, 2007 (LPAC)--During a one-day visit to Tehran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his counterpart Manuchehr Mottaki, and blasted the United States. He was quoted by Interfax as saying that the unilateral sanctions which the U.S. recently declared, "are not helpful for the continuation of collective efforts" to solve the conflict.

As for his advice to Iran, Lavrov said he had told Ahmadinejad to engage in "further and, preferably, more active work with the IAEA to clarify questions concerning Iran's nuclear program." He said, "We underlined the importance of resolving these questions in order to restore trust in the exclusively peaceful character of Iran's activities in the sphere of nuclear energy," AFP reported. Lavrov also delivered a message from President Putin, who visited Iran two weeks earlier.

Ahmadinejad, speaking to press after Lavrov had left, said the talks represented a continuation of the exchange of views he had had with Putin, and promised continued cooperation with the IAEA. As reported by IRNA, he told Lavrov, "Iran will continue its peaceful nuclear activities within the framework of international rules and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency." At the same time, the IAEA and Iran started their third day of talks in the capital, focussed on the centrifuge issue.

In related developments, China joined the Russian stance in rejecting any new sanctions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced Oct. 30, that "Under the current circumstances, we do not support further sanctions." He was responding to press questions regarding demands made by visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, that China support "dramatic" sanctions, AFP reported.