Russia Says World Powers, Iran Must Stop Arguing About Meeting Venue

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Russia is calling on global powers and Iran to stop arguing and agree on a venue for talks on Tehran's nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow on January 28 that both sides should "stop behaving like little children."

Lavrov also said he was disappointed that a meeting proposed for January 28-29 in Istanbul has been postponed.

Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members (China, France, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom) plus Germany have blamed each other for holding up the resumption of talks.

The last round of negotiations in Moscow in June ended without breakthrough as Tehran rejected calls to curb its nuclear activities and demanded an end to sanctions.

Iran denies suspicions that it is working on building a nuclear weapon, saying it only wants to produce nuclear energy.

Based on reporting by Interfax and Reuters