Russia and China have criticised France’s foreign minister Bernard Kouchner for talking of “war” with Teheran.
By David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent
After meeting his French counterpart in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, gave warning of the possible consequences of any military strike designed to disable Iran’s nuclear programme.
“We are convinced that no modern problem has a military solution, and that applies to the Iranian nuclear programme as well,” said Mr Lavrov.
“We are seriously concerned about increasingly frequent reports that military action against Iran is being seriously considered.”
Mr Lavrov added that Russia supported the recent agreement reached between Iran and nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.Earlier, China’s foreign ministry also criticised Mr Kouchner for raising the possibility of war.
“We believe the best option is to peacefully resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations, which is in the common interests of the international community,” said Jiang Yu, an official spokesman.
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