Who needs jobs? Illegally buy media shills for PR instead. Who needs health insurance? Lie about WMDs and have people be dead instead.
Who needs the US when Russia is helping with the nukes?
================
Russia to Cooperate on Iran Nuke Program
Friday February 18, 2005 7:31 PM
AP Photo MOSB105
By STEVE GUTTERMAN Guardian UK
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he is convinced Iran is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons and announced plans to visit the country, showing strong support for Tehran a week before a summit with President Bush.
Putin's bold expression of faith in Tehran starkly contradicts U.S. suspicions about the intentions of Iran, which Bush has labeled part of an ``axis of evil'' seeking weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorists.
``The latest steps from Iran confirm that Iran does not intend to produce nuclear weapons,'' Putin said at a meeting with Iranian National Security Council chief Hassan Rowhani. He said Russia ``will continue to develop relations in all spheres, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy.''
Russia is building a nuclear reactor for a power plant in Iran, a project the United States fears could be used to help Tehran develop nuclear weapons.
The $800 million project has harmed Russian-U.S. relations for over a decade. American concerns have been eased by Moscow's refusal to send Iran nuclear fuel for the reactor unless all spent fuel is returned to Russia - an effort to ensure that it wouldn't be reprocessed to extract plutonium, which could be used in weapons.
Russia's nuclear chief is expected in Iran next week to sign a protocol on returning the spent fuel, the only remaining obstacle to the reactor's expected launch next year.
Putin, who will meet with Bush on Feb. 24 in Slovakia, said he had accepted an invitation from Iran's leadership to visit. The Kremlin said no date has been set.
The Russian president's words are bound to alarm U.S. officials who have praised earlier statements which indicated he shared American concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
On Monday, a senior U.S. diplomat said Russia had ``seen the light'' in agreeing that Iran's claims cannot be taken on faith because of the way it has misled the international community about its nuclear program in the past.
``There are good reasons to be suspicious of what Iran is doing,'' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference in Washington on Friday.
Rice has warned Iran to come clean or face the prospect of being brought before the U.N. Security Council.
A Russian analyst questioned whether Putin's statement was based on actual information or on expediency. Russia has friendly ties with Iran and sees it as an important trade market for its industrial goods and services.
``To my mind, it's hard to find arguments to support Putin's declaration,'' said Anton Khlopkov, director of the PIR Center, which studies weapons issues. He said that ``Iran is potentially an important strategic partner for Russia ... (with) a whole series of coinciding interests.''
At the Kremlin meeting, Putin did say that the ``spread of nuclear weapons on the planet does not aid security.''
``We hope that Iran will strictly adhere to all international agreements, in relation to Russia and the international community,'' he said.
Rowhani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said that ``now, no one can doubt that Iran's nuclear program has a peaceful character.''
Russia does not want the issue to come before the Security Council, where support for a resolution against Tehran could ruin relations with Iran while a veto would bluntly defy the United States.
``Russia intends not to allow the isolation of Iran,'' Khlopkov said.
With Security Council referral and Washington's refusal to rule out military action in Iran looming in the background, Russia is supporting European diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to permanently abandon its uranium enrichment program.
``We think that Russia can play an important role in this process,'' Rowhani said.
Iran has warned it will resume all nuclear activities it has suspended if talks don't make progress by mid-March. |
