Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    BRUSSELS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed a call by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for further U.N. sanctions on Iran concerning its ambitious nuclear program.

    "It fully confirms the information that we have: that there is no military element in their nuclear program," Lavrov told reporters after talking with Rice on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting.

    But Lavrov, who came to Brussels for a NATO-Russia Council meeting, expressed his strong hope that "these negotiations with Iran will continue."

    Lavrov said earlier that his country has no evidence that Iran had ever had a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international treaty obligations.

    In meeting Lavrov, Rice aimed at persuading Russia to support new sanctions on Iran, despite that a U.S. intelligence report released recently found Iran actually stopped atomic weapons program in 2003.

    NATO foreign ministers agreed that adopt a two-track approach in dealing with Iran, who refuses to halt uranium enrichment as it insists the program is for civilian use.

    The United States is pushing for a new sanctions resolution in the U.N. Security Council.