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Russia Tells Iran to Suspend Enrichment

Wednesday, March 5, 2008 7:30 AM




UNITED NATIONS -- Russia to neighbor and friend Iran: Study the incentives the world's key powers are offering - including improved relations with the United States - and suspend uranium enrichment as the U.N. Security Council is demanding.


Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said there is broader consensus among the world's powers today on how to deal with Iran and a new reality on the ground that will hopefully create the right conditions for Tehran to halt enrichment.


But in Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini on Tuesday called a new Security Council resolution imposing a third round of sanctions "worthless" and politically motivated.


Hosseini said Iran will move ahead with its uranium enrichment program, according to the official news agency IRNA.


Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Churkin highlighted the unity of the six countries that have been in the forefront of efforts to ensure that Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful and not aimed at producing atomic bombs.


Foreign ministers of the six - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - issued a joint statement after Monday's council vote reaffirming their dual-track approach: They would sweeten a package of economic incentives and political rewards offered in June 2006 if Iran suspends enrichment, but would push for even more sanctions if Tehran continued its defiance.


"We hope (it) is being very carefully read in Tehran because it does indicate some very important motives ... and intentions of the six in working with Iran," Churkin said. He said the entire 15-member Security Council had "rallied" around the statement.


Churkin said the ministers have dealt with Iran respectfully and have called for further diplomatic efforts and approaches to create the conditions to open negotiations.


As a first step, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana was asked to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, to address the interests and concerns of both sides, he said.


The ministers reiterated Iran's right as a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to develop, produce and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. They said once the international community is confident Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, it will be treated like any other non-nuclear weapon state.


Churkin said Iran does not have to worry about supplies of enriched uranium for years, anyway, now that Russia has provided the fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant it helped Iran build.


"That new reality on the ground should provide another incentive, another opportunity for Iran to be more accommodating to the requirement of enrichment suspension," he said.


Churkin said the U.S. has shifted from objecting to Russian participation in Bushehr to supporting the reactor project, which he called "an indication of the goodwill of the international community."


When Iran previously suspended enrichment for two years, it was only negotiating with Britain, France and Germany, Churkin said, but now the U.S., Russia and China have joined the effort.


"I would suggest that greater opportunities are there for Iran if it responds positively to the offers by the six including ... overcoming its problems with the United States of America," he said.


With Russia - a "good neighbor and a good friend of Iran" - participating "it can play its positive role in the course and the outcome of the process."


U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday the ministerial statement shows the commitment of the six countries to a diplomatic solution.


He reiterated President Bush's statement that if Iran suspends enrichment and reprocessing activities, it will have no better partner than the U.S.


(AP)
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