Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned other world powers against threatening Iran during current negotiations over the Islamic country's nuclear program.

Talk of further sanctions on Iran were "premature" and should not be considered unless diplomatic efforts fail, Putin said Wednesday.

"There is no need to frighten the Iranians," Putin told reporters with Reuters and Agence-France Presse from Beijing, where he was attending a regional security conference with representatives from other Asian countries, including China.

Putin said what was needed was a compromise, and only if a compromise is not reached should other options be considered.

Putin's comments echo those of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said Tuesday during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the threat of sanctions would be unproductive.

Putin also said there was no contradiction between these statements and earlier comments from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who said sanctions are sometimes unavoidable.

The United States and its allies Britain, France and Germany are contemplating tighter sanctions on Iran as negotiations continue in an effort to get Iran to put a halt on its nuclear program.

The four Western allies, Russia and China are together pushing for unfettered access to Iran's uranium-enrichment facilities, which they suspect might be used to produce nuclear weapons, though Iran says they are purely for energy purposes.

Negotiations underway
Since negotiations began, Iran has pledged to open its recently revealed uranium enrichment plant near Qom to UN inspectors.

Russia has also said it has offered to help enrich uranium for Iran and have it returned in a form that could be used for medical research.

The UN has imposed three previous sets of sanctions on Iran for pursuing its uranium enrichment program.

The first sanctions in 2006 focused on banning trade in materials, equipment, goods and technology that could contribute to the nuclear program.

The sanctions were expanded in 2007 to include arms exports from Iran, and in 2008 Iran was restricted from importing technologies that could be used for both civilian and military purposes.

As a permanent UN Security Council member, Russia would need to approve any new sanctions, though it possible the four Western powers could pursue sanctions independent of the UN.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/10/14/russia-iran-sanctions-nuclear-putin.html

I think we should just stay the heck out of their business.

So do I. But as a member of the UN we may have no chioce.

Until a 20 kiloton device is calmly delivered via thirty foot sailboat right up New York City harbor.

20 Kiloton....small potatoes. Do you really think they would be stupid enough to do that? Nukes leave a signature. They would face total destruction if they used a nike.

Saddam Hussein had stockplies of chemical weapons. He used them on his own people. Did you ever wonder why he did not use them against our troops when we fought Iraq in Gulf War I??

yes i do think Iran well use there nukes if they get them . Saddam didn't have any bios left to use on us . that was what he said before we attacked him . All his weapons came from george bush senior , he was our Allie before our government told him we wouldn't do any thing if he invaded kuwait or saudi Arabia ..would you want to know the color of the persons hair that told him that ?