Russia hopes that Iran will heed the resolution adopted on Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which calls on Iran to comply with the UN nuclear watchdog's conditions.

The resolution, adopted earlier in the day, urges Iran to halt work at its second uranium enrichment center, which it kept secret until earlier this year, and to confirm there are no other nuclear facilities planned or under construction that have not been declared to the IAEA. It also calls on Tehran to give the IAEA complete information on its nuclear activities.

"We expect Iran to take the message of the IAEA Board of Governors resolution very seriously, and ensure full cooperation with the agency to resolve through dialogue the situation around Iran's nuclear program as soon as possible," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Of the 35-member IAEA board, 25 countries voted for the resolution. Venezuela, Malaysia, and Cuba voted against, and six abstained. Azerbaijan missed the ballot.

The resolution was endorsed by Germany, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, the six nations involved in long-running nuclear negotiations with Iran.

The Islamic Republic's envoy to the IAEA had already warned that the country's cooperation with the agency would be threaten if the resolution was adopted.

Director General Mohammed ElBaradei told the IAEA board of governors on Thursday that his inquiry into allegations that Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons had reached "a dead end" as Tehran was not cooperating.

Tehran is already under three sets of UN sanctions for refusing to halt uranium enrichment. Iran insists it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity, claiming the right under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

Russia and China have so far blocked UN Security Council votes on tougher sanctions against the country. However, at a meeting in Brussels last week they joined the other negotiators in voicing dismay at a lack of progress in the negotiations.