US, Russia Spar Over Iran Sanctions

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, arrives with his delegation for a bilateral meeting with Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/David Karp) (David Karp - AP)

NEW YORK -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exchanged sharp words Wednesday as the Bush administration tried to cement support for new U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs.

Rice and Lavrov disagreed on the matter at a German-hosted luncheon of foreign ministers from the G-8 group of industrialized nations, according to Lavrov and U.S. and European diplomats present. Another participant, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed, called the exchange "very emotional."

The lunch came as Rice and her top aides moved to capitalize on international frustration with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for declaring on Tuesday that the nuclear issue is "closed" and vowed to defy any U.N. Security Council move for more sanctions.

Ahmadinejad told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that Iran has decided to pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program "through its appropriate legal path," the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

Lavrov told The Associated Press that he had strong words with Rice about whether the time was right for new sanctions when the IAEA has struck an agreement with Iran about its past activities.

Lavrov said the United States wanted to ignore the IAEA _ as it has in the past.

"We want to rely on IAEA expertise," Lavrov said after the meeting of G-8 members: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Nicholas Burns, the State Department's No. 3 diplomat, said there had been a "lengthy discussion" on Iran at the lunch.

"There is a very clear tactical disagreement," he said. "But we are hopeful that tactical disagreement can be overcome."

Burns said Washington supported the IAEA agreement with Iran but stressed that it focused only on past Iranian activity.

The U.S. accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran adamantly denies. Iran is already subject to two U.N. sanctions resolutions as well as a growing number of financial penalties from individual nations, but China and Russia have been reluctant to agree to a new U.N. resolution.

Earlier, Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, had rebuked Ahmadinejad for his comments to the General Assembly.