RUSSIA would oppose any effort to use the UN Security Council to promote a change of regime in Iran, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published today. "We cannot support and will actively oppose any attempt to use the Security Council to punish Iran or to use Iran's nuclear program in order to promote the idea of regime change'' in Tehran, Mr Lavrov said in the transcript of an interview with the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA, released by the Russian foreign ministry. Mr Lavrov said Russia regarded the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation as an "extremely serious'' problem and called on Iran to respect international demands aimed at ensuring that its nuclear program posed no threat in this regard. "We believe that the Iranian side must finally bow to the constructive proposals that have been made and fully co-operate with the IAEA to answer all currently outstanding questions'' about its nuclear ambitions, Mr Lavrov said.
The interview with Mr Lavrov was done yesterday and the transcript was released by the foreign ministry as he held talks in Moscow with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in the Russian capital today on the final stop of a trip focusing on the North Korea crisis.