Russia rejects the European tactic of pressuring Iran on its nuclear programme, Russian news agencies quoted a Kremlin official as saying, ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with European Union leaders in London on Tuesday.Moscow opposes Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons as much as any other country, the unnamed official was quoted as saying, but added that sanctions could lead to ‘‘unpredictable sentiments’’ and spark ‘‘the radicalisation of sentiment in Iran’’.Yesterday, at the United Nations, the United States urged governments to end nuclear projects with Iran in light of a recent finding by the UN nuclear watchdog that Tehran was not complying with the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Stephen G Rademaker, the assistant US Secretary of State for arms control, did not mention Russia by name, but Moscow is building a nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr.A Russian Foreign Ministry official, Anatoly Antonov, said Moscow was bewildered by the call. He said Russian-Iranian cooperation in the peaceful atomic energy sphere ‘‘is no secret to anyone’’, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.
