Russia Warns Against More Sanctions on Iran

(Newsroom America) -- Russia's foreign minister warned Wednesday against placing more economic sanctions on Iran, saying they would "stifle" the Iranian economy and hurt the population.

Speaking at the 25th Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said an oil embargo of Iran being considered by the European Union would harm any efforts at making progress over Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

"It has nothing to do with a desire to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation," he told reporters. "It's aimed at stifling the Iranian economy and the population in an apparent hope to provoke discontent."

The EU is weighing whether to sanction the sale of Iranian oil, which accounts for about 80 percent of the Islamic republic's foreign revenue.

The U.S. has already imposed new sanctions against Iran's central bank, which has also had an effect on refiners' ability to buy crude.

Russia has backed earlier U.N.-imposed sanctions against Iran but has balked on new sanction proposals in recent months, calling instead for dialogue with Tehran.

Moscow has helped build Iran's nuclear infrastructure, including its first nuclear power plant.

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