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December 26, 2007
Russia Wants Iran to Give up Uranium Enrichment
Rick Moran
Nice try, Vladmir.
After cutting the legs out from underneath the sanctions regime against Iran by supplying the mullahs with enriched uranium for their Bushre reactor, the Russians are now saying that they hope by giving the Iranians what they want that they will stop endangering the peace by halting their own uranium enrichment program:
Russia's delivery of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr power station makes it unnecessary for Iran to pursue its enrichment program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Lavrov, interviewed by the Moscow daily Vremya Novostei, also said any suggestion of "regime change" in Tehran had to be ruled out in discussions on verifying Iran's nuclear program. "We believe that Iran has no economic need to proceed with its program of uranium enrichment," Lavrov told the daily.
"We are trying to persuade the Iranians that freezing the program is to their advantage as it would immediately lead to talks with all countries of the "six," including the United States."
Such talks, he said, would aim to end any suspicion that Iran had any secret aim to produce nuclear weapons. "Iran's agreement to this proposal is in everyone's interest." What incentive the Iranians have gotten from the Russians to put away their nuclear enrichment toys and embrace the Bear as a partner in their energy producing reactors is hard to find. They no more want to be dependent on Russian goodwill to run their reactors as they wish to be beholden to the west. The issue isn't bomb making anyway. It's enrichment. And the Russian's move to sell the nuclear fuel to Iran only encourages resistance by the mullahs to western entreaties to halt their enrichment program. And given that what puny sanctions that are already in place are in jeapordy of being withdrawn, Iran is on the verge of a huge diplomatic victory.
Any more "help" like this from the Russians will not be welcome.
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