AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
Moscow: Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service is unaware of any attempt by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the head of the service was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Monday.
“We attentively observe what is going on around Iran and report on this to our leadership. We are not indifferent to how events will develop. But at the moment we have no information to suggest Iran is developing nuclear weapons,” the service's director, Sergei Lebedev, said.
“Accordingly we see no basis for using force against Iran,” he added.
Moscow has defended Iran's right to develop a civilian nuclear energy programme, a programme that Washington suspects is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
Russia is building Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr and recently agreed to sell Iran 29 TOR M1 mobile surface-to-air missile defence systems.
