MOSCOW, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday cautioned against imposing sanctions on Iran in the intensified dispute over its nuclear program.

    "Sanctions are in no way the best or the only way to solve the problem," Lavrov told a press conference, adding the question of sanctions is "placing the cart in front of the horse."

    But he again said the nuclear talks can only resume if Tehran reintroduces its moratorium on nuclear research.

    "It is our common goal -- and I am convinced that it is the goal of any country concerned about security issues -- to guarantee the inviolability of the nuclear nonproliferation regime," Lavrov said.

    Germany, France and Britain, representing the European Union (EU), had been negotiating with Iran to persuade it to scrap uranium enrichment, but the talks collapsed after Iran ended a freeze on uranium conversion in August 2005.

    Uranium enriched at low levels can fuel nuclear reactors, but if highly enriched it can be used for bombs.

    The United States accuses Iran of running a covert nuclear arms program. Iran, however, says its nuclear work is designed merely to meet its energy needs and insists on the right to develop a full nuclear fuel cycle.

    The EU has called for an emergency session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to vote on whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council to face possible economic sanctions after it resumed nuclear research last week.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday warned against "rash or erroneous moves" in tackling the dispute and held out hope that Tehran would accept a Russian proposal.

    Russia, which is helping Iran build its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr, has proposed to enrich its uranium under a joint venture on the former Soviet republic's soil.

    "We have heard different views from our Iranian partners. One of them, expressed by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, was that Tehran does not rule out such an option," Putin said. Enditem