Tehran not planning to build nukes, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said here today that recent steps taken by Iran have convinced Russia it was not planning to build nuclear ...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said here today that recent steps taken by Iran have convinced Russia it was not planning to build nuclear weapons.

‘‘The recent actions by Iran confirm that it does not intend to manufacture nuclear weapons. It means that we will continue cooperation with Iran in all spheres, including nuclear energy,’’ Putin declared at the start of the talks with the visiting secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Hasan Rohani, in the Kremlin. Rohani is Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator.

‘‘We hope that Iran will abide by all obligations it has assumed in the bilateral and international formats,’’ he said adding that ‘‘I would like to discuss the so-called nuclear programme of Iran and the situation in the region.’’

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He also said that Moscow was ready to boost defence cooperation between the two countries. ‘‘We are ready for further military-technical cooperation with Iran,’’ Putin said.

Rohani assured Putin that Iran’s activities in the nuclear sphere were peaceful. ‘‘When I visited Moscow last year there were many doubts about our nuclear programme. Today nobody doubts that our activities in the nuclear sphere are peaceful which is mentioned in the last resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors,’’ Rohani pointed out.

Putin also said that he was planning to visit Tehran. ‘‘I have received an invitation from the Iranian leadership to visit your country and we are preparing for a visit to Iran,’’ Putin told Rohani.