LEAD: Kremlin reaffirms veto to any oil embargo against Iran

Jan 17, 2012, 11:32 GMT

Moscow - Russia on Tuesday reaffirmed its opposition to an international embargo on oil exports from Iran and said it would block a United Nations Security Council resolution to that effect.

'We believe that sanctions relative to Iran have lost their usefulness,' said Gennady Gatilov, Deputy Foreign Minister at a Moscow press conference, according to the Interfax news agency.

'We will oppose any new resolution (on UN sanctions against Iran),' he said.

'Of course we would consider any use of force against the territory of Iran unacceptable. That would make the situation even more critical,' Gatilov said.

It is disputed whether Iran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon, and suggestions that military strikes might be necessary to attack Iranian nuclear facilities are inflammatory, he said.

'Unfortunately many (western) government leaders are not restraining themselves and are speaking openly about a military strike against Iran,' Gatilov added.

However, Iran's decision to enrich uranium, the key element in a nuclear weapon, to a new high level of 20 per cent purity 'is not a positive development,' he said.

Speaking at a separate Moscow press conference, Russian Vice Premier Dmitry Rogozin said the Kremlin's top goal on Iran was to defuse tensions and to return all parties to the negotiating table.

'Any ratcheting up of tensions on Iran can bring nothing useful, it would lead to a catastrophe in the region. Russia is doing everything it can from the point of view of diplomacy to resolve the conflict,' Rogozin said, accoridng to Interfax.

The official Russian comments came after Monday talks in Moscow between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy US Secretary of State William Burns, and Michael McFaul, the new US ambassador to Russia, on Iran and Syria, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can veto resolutions. An internationally-binding embargo on oil exports from Iran, as has been suggested by the United States, would require the council's unanimous approval.

Read more about Russia