Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has accused China and Russia of breaching a United Nations arms embargo by continuing to supply weapons to the Sudanese authorities for use in Darfur.
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May 8, 2007Russia will carry over 300 kilos of enriched uranium from a Soviet-era nuclear research reactor in eastern Germany back to Russia, the Reuters news agency reported Thursday.
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December 7, 2006Syria has done nothing to deserve international sanctions as it has cooperated with a UN probe into the killing of Lebanon’s former premier Rafiq Hariri, Russia’s foreign minister has said in an interview quoted by AFP.
“Frankly, I do not see what Syria could have done to deserve facing sanctions,†Sergei Lavrov told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday.
“We believe that Syria is actively cooperating with the UN investigation in the (February 2005) assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafiq Hariri. International investigators visit Syria frequently, meet Syrian officials and present their reports to the UN security council,†he said.
“I have not heard any accusation of default against Syria,†in this regard, he told the London-based Arabic daily.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said late September the United States was hoping to convince its allies to back new sanctions against Syria in response to its purported role in destabilizing Lebanon and Iraq and supporting the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.
Lavrov also praised Syria for avoiding turning the July war between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel into a regional conflict.
“Thank God that war did not turn into an all-out regional war … That did not happen because the Syrian leadership took a very responsible stand and avoided all that could have dragged Syria into the furnace of the military conflict,†the minister said.
Syria earned rare praise from U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration for thwarting an attack on its embassy in Damascus on September 12.
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October 27, 2006International action over Tehran’s nuclear program must be in proportion to the real situation in Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, the Reuters news agency reports.
“It is necessary to act on Iran but that action should be in direct proportion to what is really happening,†RIA Novosti news agency quoted Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.
“And what is really happening is what the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports to us. And the IAEA is not reporting to us about the presence there of a threat to peace and security,†the minister stressed.
French UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere told journalist earlier that the European powers were going to put forward a draft UN Security Council resolution during the course of this week.
According to the media reports, the resolution would impose limited sanctions, including bans on nuclear and missile cooperation.
Six countries — U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany offered Iran a package of economic incentives and political rewards in June 2006 if it agreed to consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and commit to a freeze on uranium enrichment before talks to discuss details of their package, the Associated Press reported.
But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly said his country would continue enrichment, and is not intimidated by the possibility of sanctions.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has led talks on behalf of the six nations, said he spoke to top Iranian negotiation Ali Larijani on Monday but “the situation hasn’t changed,†and Iran continues to refuse to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.
“We have to see if we can overcome the situation that makes it impossible to start negotiations,†he said.
Solana’s negotiations with Tehran were seen as a final bid to avoid a full-blown confrontation between Iran and the U.N. after it ignored an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend enrichment or face punishment.
The United States has called for broad sanctions, such as a total ban on missile and nuclear technology sales, while the Russians and Chinese back prohibitions of selected items as a first step.
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October 18, 2006
To dissuade Moscow from blocking UN action against Iran, Russia would be permitted to work on a nuclear reactor in Iran even if the UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program, U.S. and European officials quoted by Reuters said.
The exclusion for the Bushehr project, a light-water reactor being developed with Russian help in southwestern Iran, is in a sanctions resolution drafted by Britain, France and Germany. The three countries have led efforts to halt nuclear activities that the major powers say are aimed at bomb-making but Tehran insists are for energy production.
In New York, French UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere told Reuters the three European powers planned to put forward a draft UN Security Council resolution “during the course of this week. We are aiming for Wednesday or Thursday.â€
Russia, which is being paid $800 million by Iran for its work on the Bushehr reactor, holds a veto in the Security Council, so its support for the measure will be crucial.
The resolution would impose limited sanctions, including bans on nuclear and missile cooperation, after Iran ignored a Security Council demand to halt uranium enrichment by Aug 30.
In interviews, U.S. and European officials said Russia, which like China has been hesitant about sanctions, would not vote for a Security Council resolution without an exemption for the Bushehr project, which is due to begin operation next year.
“It ensures that you get the Russians to go along,†a U.S. official said.
A European diplomat explained: “We think there shouldn’t be any cooperation on the nuclear side and none on missile side or even a defense relationship (with Iran but) the Russians think it’s OK for there to be nuclear cooperation as long as it’s for civilian purposes.â€
Russia is believed to have some 1,500 technicians working at Bushehr and they are expected to remain, officials said.
For more than a decade, the United States has opposed Russian nuclear cooperation with Iran and strongly objected when Russia in 1995 took over the contract for Bushehr, a 1,000-megawatt project begun by German firm Siemens in the 1970s.
Washington’s opposition cooled after Russia, following revelations in 2002 that Iran was pursuing a covert uranium enrichment program, slowed Bushehr’s completion and negotiated a deal under which Russia would provide fresh fuel for Bushehr, then take back spent fuel so it could not be diverted for weapons.
Some U.S. officials said Russia’s willingness to take back spent fuel made the project less of a proliferation risk, but others hoped that if the Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran, that would give Russia political cover to halt the project entirely.
The Bush administration is negotiating with Moscow on a U.S.-Russia nuclear cooperation agreement that some experts predicted would open the door to so much new and lucrative nuclear trade that Russia could afford to jettison the Bushehr contract. But said one U.S. official: “Russia wants both.â€
Russia and Iran last month signed an agreement fixing a 2007 start-up date for Bushehr, with Moscow resisting pressure from Tehran to speed up work on the long-delayed plant.
Rose Gottemoeller, director of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Moscow Center who worked closely with Russia as a senior Clinton administration official, said she was comfortable with the Bushehr exemption.
“My basic conclusion is (Russian officials) have gotten religion on this issue and have tailored the Bushehr fuel services contract to properly avoid proliferation while preserving the reactor deal,†she said in an e-mail.
Mark Medish, another Carnegie Russian expert, said the exemption reflects practical politics and there could be diplomatic value in allowing a Russia-Iran channel to continue operating. Also, letting Bushehr proceed gives the Security Council flexibility to further tighten sanctions in the future, he said.
But Henry Sokolski of the Non-proliferation Education Center said a Bushehr exemption would be a disappointment after the tough UN sanctions imposed on North Korea.
Given concerns about Iran covertly making nuclear fuel, “you shouldn’t trust them with a light-water reactor,†said Sokolski, who says such technology is more dangerous than many people think.
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