Sanctions leave door open to Iran: Russian formin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - United Nations sanctions on Iran adopted at the weekend are designed to persuade Tehran to resume negotiations and not punish it, Russia's Foreign Minister said on Tuesday.

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday imposed restrictions on Iranian arms exports, state-owned banks and the elite Revolutionary Guards over Tehran's failure to halt its uranium enrichment program.

"We hope the Iranian leadership will receive the signals contained in the resolution ... in the appropriate way," Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.

"The resolution adopted by the Security Council is designed to help resume negotiations. It does not aim to serve as an instrument for punishing Iran."

"The door is open ... I hope that a positive reaction (from Iran) will follow," said Lavrov.

Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council, backed the latest resolution but has resisted U.S.-led efforts to impose much harsher sanctions on Iran.

Washington and several European states suspect Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb. Tehran says it is pursuing nuclear technology exclusively to generate electricity.

Russia says it does not want Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon but believes engagement, not isolation, is the best approach.

Iran responded to the latest U.N. sanctions by saying it would partially suspend cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Lavrov said it appeared that Iran had not yet carried through on this threat.

"According to our information, and we have verified this through our own channels, there haven't been any such official approaches by Iran to the IAEA," said Lavrov.