Russia's foreign minister on Thursday dismissed Iran's recent criticism as an emotional outburst and voiced frustration with Tehran regarding its nuclear works.
The comments come one day ater Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed Moscow over its support for new round of sanctions. "This statement is being interpreted as emotional," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference.
He lamented that, despite Russia's years of efforts to resolve the dispute, "the response from the Iranian side has been unsatisfactory." Lavrov also hinted that Moscow is concerned that Iran's lack of cooperation could be undermining Russia's image as a major force in the international community. "All the decisions that we make on all questions of external policy are based on national interests and on our responsibility as a great state which is involved in an array of international efforts to resolve difficult situations. And Iran is one of these," he said, according to the AP.
