BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Germany welcomed Thursday Iran's possible cooperation with Russia on uranium enrichment to quell the crisis over its nuclear program.

    "It looks as if a window of opportunity has been opened since yesterday," Deputy German Foreign Minister Gernot Erler told the parliament, referring to the comments by Iranian top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani that Iran had a "positive" attitude to setup a joint venture with Russia on uranium enrichment.

    Erler echoed other German government and opposition politicians by saying that Germany did not want to regard military action as away to solve the issue.

    Opposition Greens member Juergen Trittin, who was environment and nuclear affairs minister from 1998 to 2005 in the Gerhard Schroeder government, noted that Iran would be far more vulnerable to economic sanctions than generally believed.

    He said the Islamic republic lacked refining capacity and had to import petroleum products from other countries though it is a big crude oil producer.

    Iran removed the UN seal early this month from its nuclear facilities to resume nuclear fuel research, which triggered strong international opposition and worries, as the United States and other western countries fear that Iran would develop nuclear weapons, despite Tehran's insistence that the research is only aimed at civilian use.

    Following the move, the European Union trio of Germany, France and Britain decided to refer Iran to the UN Security Council to face possible sanctions by calling an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

    The agency will vote early next month on the issue. Enditem