By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
Mottaki will arrive on Thursday for a two-day visit, the ministry said.
The visit comes amid wrangling among powers in the UN Security Council over how to respond to Iran's defiant refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities that have deepened concerns it could be seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Russia last week proposed major amendments weakening a European draft resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran, saying it wanted sanctions limited to measures that would keep Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to leave the door open for negotiations.
Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow would only support sanctions against Iran if they were for a limited time and spelled out a clear mechanism for their removal.