Russia
recognises 'suspicion' of Iranian nuclear programme
By Dario Thuburn
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 01 13 06
Russia said Thursday that Iran's decision to resume sensitive
atomic research fed suspicions that the Islamic republic may secretly
be aiming to build nuclear weapons and strengthened arguments
for referring the issue to the UN Security Council.
"The lack of economic logic and the absence of real practical
necessity are questions that will feed suspicion that this programme
could have a hidden military aspect," Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Moscow Echo radio station.
Lavrov described anti-Israeli comments from Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as "oil on the fire" and added:
"All this adds political arguments for those who believe
that Iran can only be addressed through the UN Security Council."
He did not say that Russia -- the main foreign contractor building
Iran's first nuclear power plant -- fully shared Western fears
that Tehran was seeking to build its own nuclear weapons.
Lavrov's remarks nonetheless marked an unprecedented rhetorical
shift and aligned Moscow more closely and publicly than before
with thinking in the United States and other Western capitals
about the risks posed by Iran's nuclear program and how to address
them.
Russia has in the past dismissed fears expressed by Western governments
that Iran was striving to build a nuclear bomb under the cover
of a peaceful atomic energy programme, saying they were unfounded.
It has also previously said it opposes referral of the Iran nuclear
issue to the UN Security Council in the absence of clear proof
that Tehran was hiding a weapons program.
Lavrov announced that officials from the "EU-3" -- Britain,
France and Germany -- as well as from Russia, China and the United
States -- would meet next week in London for "urgent consultations"
on the Iran nuclear standoff.
And he said the security threat posed by Iran was compounded by
its possession of a potent rocket arsenal.
"The Iranian problem is very acute. ... We should not forget
that in Iran there is a fairly developed rocket programme, rockets
of medium- and long-range radius of action," Lavrov said,
according to excepts released by Moscow Echo before the full interview
was broadcast.
His comments came as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said
the three EU states could call an emergency meeting of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that it was "highly probable"
that Tehran's case would end up being referred to the UN Security
Council.
Iran on Tuesday announced the end of a two-year suspension of
nuclear fuel research, drawing condemnation from the United States,
Russia and the European Union.
Senior Russian officials, who have previously supported Iran's
nuclear ambitions and insisted the country seeks only peaceful
atomic energy, hardened their positions this week saying Tehran's
move gave cause for "alarm" and "concern."
Lavrov however insisted any decision by the IAEA to transfer the
Iran nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council "will depend
on Iran's reaction and the line taken by members of the IAEA's
Board of Governors."
"We want that to be a consensual line," Lavrov said.
Lavrov noted that Tehran's move to break the seals at nuclear
research facilities was "not illegal from the point of view
of international law," reiterating Russia's long-held position
that Iran had a right to carry out the nuclear fuel cycle on its
territory.
"Iran has the right to create its own nuclear cycle under
IAEA control," he said.
Russia has taken on a role of mediator in the standoff over Iran,
proposing that Tehran agree to create a joint venture for the
enrichment of uranium at a controlled site on Russian territory
-- a plan generally supported by the West.
Moscow is building Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr, which
is set to be switched on later this year, at a total cost estimated
by industry experts at 1.2 billion dollars (989 million euros).
"For us the most important task in this situation is not
our bilateral relations, our investments in the Iranian economy,
our economic gain from cooperation with Iran.
"In
the current situation, the most important task is preventing a
breach of the nuclear non-proliferation regime," Lavrov said.
AFP
01 12 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
