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Russ
ia has brushed off increasingly loud US demands to halt its
nuclear cooperation with Iran, remaining the foremost world power
helping the Islamic regime develop what many fear is a nuclear
weapons programme.
US and European demands that Iran come entirely clean on its
nuclear programme have fallen on deaf ears, prompting the West to
turn its criticism on Russia's construction of Iran's first nuclear
power plant at Bushehr.
Yet they have made little headway there too.
Russia insists it will complete the Bushehr plant, supporting
Iran's claim that it is part of a plan to develop nuclear energy
for peaceful means.
Yet many in the West wonder why oil-rich Iran, which produces
around 3,6-million barrels of crude per day - needs to turn to
nuclear energy.
Faced with increased criticism, Moscow has stepped up its calls
that Tehran sign an additional Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
protocol allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to
inspect all suspect sites, not just those declared by Tehran.
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov again urged Iran to sign the protocol
on Monday following the IAEA's meeting in Vienna in which IAEA
chief Mohamed ElBaradei released a report saying Iran had failed to
report certain nuclear activities.
Yet the same day, another Russian official called on IAEA governors
in Vienna to take a "measured and non-politicised" decision after
analysing the report.
"We believe the reaction of the council of governors to this report
must be measured and non-politicised, and take all aspects into
account," Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov said.
And foreign ministry spokesperson Alexander Yakovenko said Monday
that a wave of anti-regime protests sweeping Iran were the
country's "internal affair" - in a thinly veiled swipe at US
support of the demonstrations.
Russia has clearly been seeking to avoid stirring up tensions with
the US, with relations still on the mend following a bitter
conflict over the US-led war in Iraq.
Yet it is also seeking to defend an important market – the
Bushehr contract alone is worth $800-million - and show its public
that it does not bend to Washington's whim.
These conflicting goals have led Russia to engage in a somewhat
confused policy over the crisis, which heated up yesterday with
Iran's rejection of the charges made in the IAEA report.
Different Russian officials make varying, and sometimes
conflicting, statements almost daily.
In late May, Western officials - including British Prime Minister
Tony Blair - said Russian President Vladimir Putin had pledged at a
G8 summit in France that Russia would not sell Iran nuclear fuel
until it signed the additional protocol.
But Yakovenko and Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev later
said Russia would go ahead with the nuclear fuel shipments even
without the protocol.
The shipments are not due to begin until Tehran and Moscow sign a
deal on the return of spent fuel.
The document has been ready since August, but logisitical problems,
including Russia's call for experts to carry out an environmental
study, have slowed its signing, prompting some analysts to call the
delay a hidden concession to Washington.
Russia earlier this month delayed Bushehr's launch until 2005,
another move seen as an indirect concession.
But Putin himself has insisted Russia will not sever ties with
Iran, reiterating both at the G8 meet in France and at a series of
summits held with European and US leaders in Saint Petersburg last
month that the cooperation would continue.
Yet adding further to the confusion, he told US President George W
Bush in Saint Petersburg that "the position of Russia and the US on
the issue are much closer than they seem". - Sapa-AFP.
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