Russia does not want to see the UN Security Council punish Iran over its refusal to freeze sensitive nuclear work, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
Speaking at the start of a visit to New Delhi, Lavrov also said that Moscow wanted to see the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) take the lead role in resolving the crisis.
"The role of the Security Council is precisely to help and not to replace the IAEA in the process," Lavrov told reporters.
He added that "the good offices of the Security Council will be in the business of helping attaining that goal rather than punishing Iran."
"We have been trying to help with the IAEA efforts to bring the matter to the negotiating table rather than block the pathways to the possibility of pursuing those talks," Lavrov said.
Russia and China -- which have extensive trade and energy links with Iran -- are resisting a European-proposed draft Security Council resolution providing for targeted sanctions against Iran.
Tehran, which insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, has rejected UN demands that it halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for electricity generation but can also be used to produce the raw material for a nuclear warhead.