Russia warned Israel and the West on Wednesday against any military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities but suggested Tehran should be quicker to cooperate over inspections of its nuclear sites.

Speaking at his annual news conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mixed words of caution over isolating Iran or attacking it with a gentle nudge to Tehran over the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.“Attempts to prepare and implement strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and on its infrastructure as a whole are a very, very dangerous idea. We hope these ideas will not come to fruition,” Lavrov said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted strongly at possible military action to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb. In an election victory speech on Wednesday, he said preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons would be the main challenge for a new government.
Referring to talks in which the IAEA has been trying to negotiate an agreement for inspectors to gain access to sites, officials and documents, Lavrov said:

“The Iranians have said they want this document to be agreed in full. We think our Iranian colleagues could do this a little bit faster.”Speaking of separate negotiations between Iran and six world powers that are trying to ensure it does not pursue a nuclear weapons programme, Lavrov said he was confident a new round of talks would be held but said a venue had not yet been agreed.His comments came as Tehran proposed Cairo as the venue for the next meeting with the so-called “P5+1” - the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany.

“When I was in Egypt ... it was suggested that the next meeting be held in Cairo,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by ISNA on Wednesday. “This issue was welcomed by our dear friends in Egypt and Egypt will consult with the P5+1 for hosting this meeting.”The last round of negotiations between Iran and six world powers, known collectively as the P5+1, over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme was heldin June 2012 in Moscow. Iranian media last week cited Geneva, Istanbul and “some other cities” as possible locations for talks.

Both Iran and P5+1 - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - say they want to resume talks. However, the two sides’ priorities diverge: the powers want to curb Iran’s work to potentially develop atomic weapons, while Iran wants sanctions scrapped and their “rights” to enrich uranium formally recognized.Three rounds of negotiations in 2012 failed to achieve a breakthrough in the decade-old dispute, which has the potential to trigger a new Middle East war. Iran denies it is pursuing weapons and says its programme is purely peaceful.

Those talks run in parallel with the ones Iran is holding with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and focus on slightly different issues.
A top Russian official had earlier said that Moscow expected the fourth round of top-level talks Iran has held with the “P5+1” in the past 10 months to happen in Istanbul by the end of February.Russia has voiced repeated concerns over a lack of dialogue over a contested Iranian programme that most powers believe is focused on developing a nuclear bomb.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Wednesday Iran was delaying preparations for a new round of nuclear talks with six world powers, but she is still hoping that negotiations can begin soon.EU officials have been in contact with Iranian negotiators since December to try to agree a date and venue for new talks, which the powers hope will lead to Iran scaling back its atomic work. No plans have yet been set.

“We proposed concrete dates and venue in December,” said a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, who oversees contacts with Iran on behalf of United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.“Since then, we have been very surprised to see Iran come back to us again and again with new pre-conditions on the modalities of the talks, for example by changing the venue and delaying their responses,” he said.