Posted on 10/15/2005 10:48:55 AM PDT by traumer
MOSCOW - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed Saturday to persuade Russia to offer new support for a hard line on Iran's disputed nuclear program, despite making a hastily arranged trip to the Russian capital.
Rice wanted Russian cooperation as the United States and its European allies try either to draw Iran back to diplomatic talks or invoke the threat of punishment from the powerful U.N. Security Council.
Despite lengthy meetings with Russian officials, including a long session alone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it was clear Russia had not changed its opposition to using the Security Council.
The Iranian nuclear question can be handled through the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, which is already monitoring nuclear activities in Iran, Lavrov told reporters afterward.
"We think that the current situation permits us to develop this issue and do everything possible within the means of this organization, without referring this issue to other organizations now," Lavrov said.
Rice said the Security Council "remains an option" if Iran does not cooperate.
"We've said all along there remains time for negotiations if Iran is prepared to negotiate in good faith," Rice told reporters.
The International Atomic Energy Agency last month passed a resolution warning Tehran it would be referred to the Security Council unless it allayed international fears about its nuclear program.
Russia handed the United States a subtle diplomatic victory last month when it abstained, rather than vote against that measure.
Lavrov appeared to dash U.S. hopes for a Russian "yes" vote when the IAEA next meets on Nov. 24, but it is not clear whether Russia would actively block the move.
Iran says its nuclear activities, some of which are carried out with Russian cooperation, are intended to produce electricity, not weapons.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The bombing begins in five minutes.
I would think that Russian leadership might be able to understand a Moslem leadership with a willingness to share technology with the jihadists, to be a poor candidate to posess nuclear weaponry. Have they already forgotten how the Moslem terrorists view their children and other citizens?
Russia, wake the hell up!
No stretch to reach that conclusion.
Iran says its nuclear activities... are intended to produce love, not wall :o)
Russia, wake the hell up!
------
I don't think they care -- they want to sell anything they can to Iran. Reactors, weapons, anything --- it all generates CASH...something that Ivan is very short on.
It's not just Russia that feels this way. It's pretty much only the U.K and the U.S. that want to put more pressure on Iran concerning their nuclear program.
Rice is in way over her head.
Rice is in way over her head.
If you want a Google GMail account, FReepmail me.
They're going fast!
There has not been any Shiite terrorism in Russia. The terrorism in Russia has been exclusively Sunni radicals of the Wahhabi and Deobandi types, who originally hail from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and were supported by the United States in Afghanistan, and in attempts to destabilize Central Asia and Southern Russia.
Besides which the Sunnis and Shiites hate each other.
"I would think that Russian leadership might be able to understand a Moslem leadership with a willingness to share technology with the jihadists, to be a poor candidate to posess nuclear weaponry."
Actually, the Russians have built a nuclear plant in Iran and intend to build more. I believe they are secret supporters of terrorism, and that much of the terrorism inside Russia is largely under the control of the FSB. Here is a somewhat old reference to Russian aid to Iran from my files. Sorry, no date.
http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050228-122848-1442r
from Washington Times Insider:
Russia, Iran sign nuclear fuel deal
By Ali Akbar Dareini
ASSOCIATED PRESS
From the World section
BUSHEHR, Iran -- Iran and Russia, ignoring U.S. objections, signed a nuclear fuel agreement yesterday that is key to bringing Tehran's first reactor online by the middle of next year.
The long-delayed deal, signed at the heavily guarded Bushehr nuclear facility in southern Iran, dramatized President Bush's failure to persuade the Russians to curtail support for the Iranian nuclear program during his summit with Vladimir Putin last week in Slovakia.
Under the deal, Russia will provide nuclear fuel to Iran, then take back the spent fuel, a step meant to ensure it cannot be diverted into a weapons program. Iran also has agreed to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to monitor Bushehr and the fuel deliveries.
Iranian Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh and Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency chief Alexander Rumyantsev signed the agreement after touring the $800 million complex.
"Today, a very important development occurred, and that was the protocol on returning nuclear fuel, which we signed together. In the next few weeks, many Russian technicians will arrive in Bushehr" to finish the plant, Mr. Rumyantsev said.
The officials refused to discuss the details of shipping the nuclear fuel to Iran and the spent fuel back to Russia, but insisted the agreement conforms to international nuclear regulations.
"Iran observes all the regulations on the prohibition of the spread of nuclear weapons," Mr. Rumyantsev said.
The White House declined comment, as did the State Department.
Washington accuses Tehran of covertly trying to build a nuclear bomb, which Iran denies. Last week's summit between Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin in Bratislava, Slovakia, had touched on American concerns over Russian support for Iran's nuclear program.
Mr. Putin has said he is sure Iran's intentions are merely to generate energy, not create weapons, and that Russian cooperation with Tehran would continue.
Although Russia agreed to provide the fuel needed to run the Bushehr plant, it wanted the spent fuel back to prevent any possibility Tehran would use it to extract plutonium, which could be used to make an atomic bomb. Experts have estimated the plant could produce enough plutonium for 30 rudimentary atomic bombs per year.
Mr. Aghazadeh, who is the Iranian nuclear agency chief, said more experts and technicians would complete work on installation and assembly operations over the next 10 months.
"Three months after that, there will be a test of the power plant, and within six months after that, the 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant will produce electricity," he said.
Russia will deliver the fuel when the Bushehr plant "is ready for work and loading," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told the Interfax news agency yesterday.
The Bushehr plant, accessible only by a private road, overlooks the Persian Gulf, and its cream-colored dome is visible miles away. Soldiers maintain a 24-hour watch on roads leading up to the plant, manning anti-aircraft guns and supported by radar stations.
Iranian efforts to enrich uranium so it can produce enough of its own fuel to generate power have been a bigger concern in the international community than buying fuel from abroad because the enrichment process can be taken further to be used for warheads.
Britain, France and Germany are trying to secure an Iranian commitment to scrap enrichment plans in exchange for economic aid, technical support and backing for Tehran's efforts to join mainstream international organizations.
Iran has suspended enrichment-related activities during the talks with the Europeans, which both sides have said were difficult, but insists the freeze will be brief.
Mr. Bush has expressed support for the European efforts. But documents circulated among IAEA board members in Vienna, Austria, ahead of a board meeting today indicated Washington would try to increase pressure on Tehran by the next agency board meeting in June should the European talks fail.
I think it is a mistake to have a woman as Secretary of State.Rice is in way over her head.
There is such a thing as being stuck on stupid.
That post was embarrassing.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
We are going to see a lot of "Rice failed" messages - headlines - from the MSM leading up to the 2008 presidential election. They obviously see Dr. Rice as a threat to the Hillary Beast. Don't you think?
Karen Hughes and Dr. Rice should both come home and bake cookies with Laura......for all the good they are doing!
IMHO......of course.
This AP headline is really has an interesting slant. The "news" here is that Russia will continue to do nothing to slow Iran's nuclear progress. AP, however, puts the emphasis on Rice's "failure", as if conflicts in policy between Russia and the U.S. are her fault.
If Hillary were Secretary of State, the headline would be something like:
Despite Clinton's valiant efforts, Russia continues to support Iran's nuclear program
The Russians will come to regret this stance, should
Chechen fanatics get their hands on a bomb.
I hear you, but Ivan is going to wake up one day form a great big bang.
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