Russia will not support new, tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Wednesday.

"Any additional sanctions against Iran will be seen in the international community as an instrument for regime change in Iran. That approach is unacceptable to us, and the Russian side does not intend to consider such proposals," Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.

Open gallery view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran, 2007. Credit: AP

Earlier on Wednesday, France said it wanted to convene the UN Security Council and could push for unprecedented sanctions against Iran after an International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran had worked to develop an atomic bomb design.

"Convening of the UN Security Council is called for," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told RFI radio.

In a statement, Juppe said diplomatic pressure needed to be ramped up.

"If Iran refuses to conform to the demands of the international community and refuses any serious cooperation, we stand ready to adopt, with other willing countries, sanctions on an unprecedented scale," Juppe said.

Also on Wednesday, an Iranian army general warned Israel that any attack against Iranian nuclear sites would not only be met with the "destruction" of Israel, but would invite a reaction that spread beyond the Middle East.

Deputy armed forces chief Massoud Jazayeri did not further elaborate, but said that the Dimona nuclear site in Israel could be targeted by Iran if Israel attacked it.

קראו כתבה זו בעברית: רוסיה: לא נתמוך בסנקציות חדשות נגד איראן