MOSCOW, Aug 17: Russia opposes using force to stop Iran’s nuclear programme, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. “We favour further dialogue and consider the use of force in Iran counterproductive and dangerous, something which can have grave and hardly predictable consequences,” a statement posted on the ministry’s Web site www.mid.ru said.

The West fears that the ultimate goal of Iran’s project to develop its own nuclear power sector is to develop atomic weapons.

Iran angered the European Union and the United States by resuming work at a uranium conversion plant earlier this month, rejecting an EU incentives package offered in return for giving up its nuclear programme.

Russia has criticized Tehran for restarting the uranium conversion. But it has been traditionally opposed to applying blanket pressure against Tehran.—Reuters