Russia urges prompt lifting of Iran arms embargo in nuclear deal

UFA, Russia, July 9 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Thursday that the arms embargo on Iran be among the first sanctions lifted as a potential Iranian nuclear deal continues to take shape.

Speaking at the BRICS summit, Lavrov said there are no insurmountable problems left as the nuclear negotiations among the P5+1 group of world powers continue. In addition to Iran, the P5+1 is comprised of Britain, China, Russia, the United States and France.

"We state that arms embargo against Iran should be, in fact, lifted among the first sanctions restrictions," Lavrov said, according to Tass. "The second package of sanctions was adopted when Iran refused to hold talks and was motivated by the U.N. Security Council's wish to convince Iran, politically and economically, to sit down at the negotiating table."

Lavrov underscored that lifting the arms embargo would enable Iran "to increase its defense capability against terrorism," a reference to the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday in Ufa as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in which Iran has observers status. They discussed military and nuclear co-operation, as well as the fight against the IS.

While Tehran has contended from the outset of the talks that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, prominent members of Congress and Israel, the United States' most stalwart ally in the Mideast, have rejected that claim. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Thursday in Vienna that some of tough issues "remain unsolved."

"We will not rush, and we will not be rushed, [but] we are not going to sit at the negotiating table forever," Kerry said.

His comments came a few hours ahead of a soft deadline the Obama administration had set for the talks, Politico reported.