The Iranian nuclear issue was one of the main topics discussed by the Russian and Brazilian leaders on Friday, the Russian President's press-secretary said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met in the capital of Brazil on the sidelines of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit.

"The discussion focused on international issues, including the Iranian nuclear program," Natalia Timakova said.

Western powers suspect that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at making weapons, while Tehran claims it needs enriched uranium for civilian energy purposes.

The United States, France and Britain have called for new harsher economic measures against the Islamic Republic following Iran's move to enrich uranium to 20%. Tehran has so far defied three sets of UN sanctions.

Russia, Brazil and China insist on maintaining dialogue with Iran about its nuclear program and trying to avoid sanctions, although they admit that Tehran "must show some flexibility on the matter."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has recently said sanctions against Iran "at a certain point... can become inevitable" as "Iran has still not reacted to constructive compromises it was offered," though he himself "wouldn't like to see sanctions imposed."

Medvedev said possible sanctions against the Islamic republic "should ensure nuclear nonproliferation rather than punish the Iranian nation."