TOMSK (Russia), April 27: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the UN atomic agency and not the more politicised Security Council should take charge of efforts to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme.

“We believe it is the IAEA that must play a key role and not unload this weight onto the back of the Security Council,” Mr Putin said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose chief was to report on Friday to the Security Council on Iran’s nuclear program.

“We will work cooperatively with all of our partners” to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme, Mr Putin said.

“It is too early to run ahead and say what decisions we might take together. The main thing is that any decisions that are made must be made in agreement” among all involved, Mr Putin said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Siberian city of Tomsk.

Russia, which is building Iran’s first and still unfinished nuclear power station, has consistently sought to slow down the US-led drive to isolate Iran and pressure it into giving up all nuclear ambitions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underlined Mr Putin’s caution by downplaying the urgency of Friday’s Security Council meeting.

“The procedure of presenting and examining the report is not an ultimatum. It is of a working nature and does not have a time limit,” Mr Lavrov said in Tomsk.

However, the White House had warned earlier that Iran was isolating itself.

“This is a regime that continues to defy the international community. It continues to ignore and refuses to abide by its obligations,” said spokesman Scott McClellan.

Ms Merkel stressed the need for international solidarity.

“We all have a big interest in the international community acting together and showing Iran through diplomatic means that it must abide by international agreements,” the German chancellor said at the press conference with Mr Putin. —AFP