Russia's Lavrov says cautiously optimistic on Iran

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister said on Friday he was cautiously optimistic after talks on Iran's nuclear program, Russian news agencies reported.

"The agreements reached inspire cautious optimism. The most important thing now is to make sure these agreements are fully and timely met," Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, the Interfax news agency reported.

The meeting, in Geneva on Thursday, yielded agreement on follow-up talks later this month, slightly lowering the tension in a standoff between Iran, which says it is developing civil nuclear technology, and the West which fears a secret weapons program.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog will head to Iran this weekend to pin down Iran's pledge to open a newly revealed atomic plant to inspections.

Russia has been more cautious than the major Western powers on imposing sanctions on Iran but took a more critical line following the disclosure of the previously unknown atomic plant.

Other Russian news agencies carried similar versions of the same quote, but not any further comments from Lavrov.

Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom is helping to build Iran's first nuclear power reactor at Bushehr, despite criticism from the West that the facility could help Iran develop technology for a nuclear weapon.

(Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov)