W.H. hails Russia/Iran breakthrough

[SpartanDem]

Source: Politico

NEW YORK—The White House is hailing a brief public comment from Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that raises the specter of sanctions against Iran as a breakthrough for U.S. efforts to win support for a tougher global line against Tehran’s nuclear program.


At a meeting with President Barack Obama here Wednesday afternoon, Medvedev said Russia was opposed to Iran developing nuclear weapons and would consider sanctions if other avenues fail to persuade the Islamic Republican to abandon its alleged nuclear ambitions.


“We believe we need to help Iran to make a right decision,” Medvedev said. “As to...sanctions, Russia's belief is very simple, and I stated it recently. Sanctions rarely lead to productive results. But in some cases sanctions are inevitable. Finally, it is a matter of choice.”


The National Security Council’s point person for Russia, Michael McFaul, said the Russian president’s comments were the kind of statement the U.S. officials had been seeking from Moscow for months.






Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27507.html

[tabatha]

1. Yeah for Obama!

I hope he leaves the commentators from the last admin in the dust.

[prostomulgus]

2. I sense a peace pandemic coming on!!

Thanks to President Obama, we're about to see peace breaking out all over the world -- sort of like we saw with Clinton but much more durable and lasting. Remember the economic benefits of the Clinton "peace dividend"? Well, we're about to see that again but on steroids!!

[AverageJoe5]

3. Sanctions against Iran are unwarranted

The NPT(which Iran signed - voluntarily, as all NPT signatories do) recognizes the inalienable right of all NPT member countries to develop nuclear technology for non-military use. That's what Iran is doing. How does that make Iran a "threat to international peace and security" worthy of the attention of the U.N. Security Council and the imposition of sanctions?

If Iran wants to forego the uranium enrichment process and buy nuclear fuel from another country, that should be Iran's choice without being bullied and intimidated by other countries.

There is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. But even if they were developing nuclear weapons, so what? If the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, Israel, India, Pakistan, etc. can have nuclear weapons, why can't Iran have nuclear weapons? If nuclear weapons are bad for humanity, why don't countries that have nukes get rid of them so that they may then have the moral credibility to preach about the dangers of those weapons?

Iran will probably never succumb to sanctions anyway. They have been subjected to some form or other of sanctions since the Islamic revolution in 1979; in spite of (or because of?) that, they have made fairly substantial technological progress compared to most countries that are not subjected to any form of sanctions. So this round of santions may be a blessing in disguise for Iran - compelling the country to become even more self-reliant.

Sanctions will probably not work on Iran, just like they haven't worked to topple Cuba's Fidel Castro after almost 50 years of sanctions against Cuba.

[Wizard777]

5. I agree. But the NPT was signed by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

But Iran isn't making an issue of it being a treaty with the old regime that is not binding upon the new. Then neither will I. But Sanctions should only be issued with proof of a military nuclear program or compel compliance with all valid existing treaties. But I agree that sanctions will have little or no effect upon the regime.

[Wizard777]

4. Real progress is being made.