Posted on 02/21/2006 5:53:44 AM PST by Momaw Nadon
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran showed few signs on Tuesday that it was ready to strike a deal with Russia that would allay suspicions it is seeking nuclear weapons and stave off Western pressure for possible U.N. sanctions.
After two days of talks in Moscow, Russian and Iranian negotiators said they planned more discussions this week on a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for Iran, seen as a way to ensure Tehran cannot divert nuclear fuel into bomb-making.
But the two sides appeared far apart, with Iran's foreign minister ruling out any return to a moratorium on uranium enrichment, which Russia has repeatedly demanded.
"We discussed a joint formula and we will continue talks," said Ali Hosseinitash, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security, who led his country's delegation in Moscow.
Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom, is due to travel to Iran on Thursday.
Hosseinitash called the talks "positive and constructive," but the Russians were more circumspect, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin saying only that Moscow's proposal had been examined in detail and that more talks were planned.
Kamynin, quoted by Itar-Tass news agency, said Moscow had again stressed that Iran must restore the enrichment moratorium.
U.S. officials suggest Iran is discussing the Russian plan merely to gain time, a view shared by many Russian commentators.
"Their aim is to haggle, to put off as long as possible the hour when sanctions from the international community become unavoidable," wrote the daily Izvestia.
Tehran has said it will consider a joint venture with Russia and possibly others to enrich uranium for power stations, but insists on a right to pursue enrichment at home as well. It says it wants nuclear fuel only to produce electricity, not bombs.
Iran may face action by the U.N. Security Council, which can impose sanctions, after the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency reports on Tehran's nuclear program on March 6.
GERMANY LOSING PATIENCE
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visiting Tokyo, made clear that the patience of Berlin was not endless.
"We do not rule out the possibility of economic sanctions completely," he said. "We have no option but to pray that the Iranian government will make a final decision with sincerity."
Germany and other European countries have hardened their stance on the Iran nuclear issue after repeated calls by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the destruction of Israel.
Russia and China, which could veto any move by the United States and its European allies to impose sanctions on Tehran, share concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions, but do not want to sacrifice their commercial interests in the Islamic Republic.
"China hopes Iran will restore suspension of all activities relating to uranium enrichment and create the conditions for appropriately resolving the Iran nuclear issue through peaceful negotiations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who met EU officials in Brussels on Monday, said Tehran would press ahead with its nuclear work with or without the Russian proposal.
"Returning to the suspension of our nuclear activities is not on our agenda," he told reporters on his return to Tehran.
Russia and China say sanctions would only make things worse.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also said it might be hard for Moscow to resist calls for such measures unless Iran resumes the moratorium it abandoned in January.
Political analysts and European diplomats in Tehran said Iran was refusing to buckle under international pressure because it wanted to draw Washington into the nuclear negotiations.
"They know that the only way to address the issues they really want addressed, such as security concerns, is to talk to the Americans," said a European diplomat who said he had been told of the ploy by a senior Iranian official.
Iran's leaders, who want guarantees against any U.S. attack on a country listed by President George W. Bush as part of an "axis of evil," may believe the time to force the issue is now.
"They know that the Americans were not going to give up until they had sent Iran to the Security Council," said an Iranian political analyst, who asked not to be named.
"So they figured it was better to go to the council now, with America still struggling in Iraq and oil prices high, than say in two years when America may be in a stronger position."
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing, Teruaki Ueno in Tokyo, Meg Clothier in Moscow and Parisa Hafezi and Paul Huges in Tehran)
Of course. They're using the North Korean playbook.
I can't believe anybody thinks this has a peaceful resolution coming.
Nope, there is no peaceful resolution coming, but I think it is good to play out all of our cards prior to attacking.
Like watching a doctor record the vitals during the last hours of a terminal patients life; there is a big war coming, and, we are just going through the motions to document Iran's final moments.
Re post #4: I concur.
Good. Now that Iran is rejecting the deal from Russia it will make Russia look retarded for the vote at the security council and easier for us to do what we have to do with boots on the ground.
....it also shows that Russia is no Alli to the US.
Of course anyone with half a brain knew that long ago!
Re Post #4
I concurr too.
Both sides stated their positions and everybody lived.
*************************AN EXTRACT*******************************
But Iran has made their final decision. To not recognize that this decision was made long before the IAEA came into the picture and has been maintained throughout the entire process commonly referred to as international negotiations is to be willfully blind.
It's nothing but a stalling tactic....
Idiots should never get their hopes up.
I'm not sure if Russia has its own interests at heart, much less ours. Russia has been burning the candle at both ends since who knows when.
All those (mythical) Iranian "students" who "support" us and "oppose" the regime had better get off their butts PDQ or they won't have any butts.
I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.
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