UNITED NATIONS, March 8 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday said the Iran nuclear impasse has given him a sense of "déjà vu," referring to the pre-Iraq invasion drumbeat.
"It looks so deja vu," he told reporters outside the United Nations Security Council after meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss Iran.
The 15-member panel is awaiting the arrival of an International Atomic Energy Agency report on Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Lavrov was Moscow's chief envoy to the United Nations for many years, including at the height of debate over whether Iraq harbored weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, a move Russia opposed.
"I've been answering these questions regarding Iraq and I don't believe that we should engage in something which might become self-fulfilling prophesy," he said.
"We are convinced that there is no military solution to this crisis," Lavrov added. "I don't think sanctions as a means to solve a crisis have ever achieved a goal, in recent history."
"We must rely on the professional advice of the IAEA, the watchdog of the non-proliferation regime hired by all of us," he said.
Lavrov earlier dismissed a suggestion that the council's next step would be a tough statement against Iran.
"What I heard is that the European troika suggested (continuing) consultations in Vienna with the participation of Russia, the United States, China, the director general (of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei) and the Iranians," he said. "If this proposal is indeed on the table, we welcome this proposal."
