Medvedev Warns Of Limits To Russia's Backing Of Iran Sanctions

[Purveyor]

Source: Washington Post

PRAGUE -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told President Obama privately on Thursday that there remain limits to his country's support for sanctions on Iran, even as the move for united action to restrain Iran's nuclear ambition accelerates.

Obama and Medvedev together pledged support for Iranian sanctions to be imposed as soon as this spring, using the sidelines of a signing ceremony for a historic nuclear arms reduction treaty as a venue for private discussions.

The administration is pressing hard this month for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would tighten sanctions on the Islamic Republic for refusing to engage in talks on its nuclear program, but it faces reluctance from China as well as such countries as Brazil and Turkey on the 15-member council.

Speaking to reporters after an 85-minute closed-door meeting with Medvedev, Obama expressed hope that negotiators in New York will secure "strong, tough sanctions on Iran this spring."

"We are going to be pushing very hard to make sure that both smart and strong sanctions end up being in place soon to send a signal to Iran and other countries that this is an issue that the international community takes seriously," Obama said.

In his remarks, Medvedev said he agreed that nations cannot "turn a blind eye" to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and said he "cannot disagree" with what Obama said. But Medvedev made clear that Russian support for sanctions will be conditioned on their intent to change Iran's behavior, not to punish its people.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/08/AR2010040803866.html

[pettypace]

1. Um, can anyone tell what Iran has done to the US

or the UK, or France, or Germany, or China, or Russia to merit such hostile attention?

Why the fuck are we hearing this incessant bellicosity towards a people who haven't inflicted any carnage on European nations since before the Pelloponesian War?

Please someone tell me.

[Pavulon]

3. 30% HEU. They said they want it, the only reason to own it

is to implode it.

[Ghost Dog]

6. I don't think so. I understand the small quantities of 30%-enriched

are used for medicalpurposes. The 10%-enriched is for power station fuel.

80% or so enrichment required for nukes.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Pavulon]

7. first pass, it is then enriched further to 90% to implode(nt)

[SpartanDem]

4. Maybe becuase they keep flaunting int'l law

IAEA chief accuses Iran of non-cooperation
By Simon Morgan (AFP) – Mar 1, 2010

VIENNA — The head of the UN atomic watchdog, Yukiya Amano, said Monday that Iran is still not giving sufficient information on its nuclear activities but that a uranium fuel deal is still on the table.

In an address to the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors, Amano said: "We cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hWu9YRN7TjBQ3rhH-08ul_Ty5beQ

IAEA fears Iran working now on nuclear warhead
Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it fears Iran may be working now to develop a nuclear-armed missile, as Washington warned Tehran of "consequences" for ignoring international demands to stop its atomic program.

In unusually blunt language, an International Atomic Energy Agency report for the first time suggested Iran was actively pursuing nuclear weapons capability, throwing independent weight behind similar Western suspicions.

The IAEA seemed to be cautiously going public with concerns arising from a classified agency analysis leaked in part last year which concluded that Iran has already honed explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61H4EH20100218

Iran broke law by not declaring atom site: ElBaradei

Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:58am EDTVIENNA (Reuters) - Iran broke a transparency law of the U.N. nuclear watchdog by failing to disclose much earlier a nuclear plant being built for uranium enrichment, agency director Mohamed ElBaradei said in a televised interview

Iran reported the site to the International Atomic Energy Agency on September 21. Western powers said Tehran was forced to do so after learning they were about to discover a plant whose construction began 3-1/2 years ago.

Western diplomatic sources said the plant was hidden inside a mountainside on a former Iranian Revolutionary Guards base near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom. It heightened suspicions of a covert Iranian aim to develop atomic bombs, they said.

Iran has said the site is meant for enriching uranium only to low levels for civilian energy, like its much larger Natanz enrichment complex which is under IAEA monitoring, and that it had no legal obligation to reveal it until now.

ElBaradei disagreed.

"Iran was supposed to inform us on the day it was decided to construct the facility. They have not done that," he said in an interview with CNN-India during a visit to New Delhi, in remarks relayed by the IAEA's Vienna headquarters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE58T2S120090930

[liberation]

5. The US and Israel (and Russia for that matter) have broken all sorts of UN regulations re nukes

The only insurance policy for Iran's regime at this point is having a nuclear arsenal, and they know it.

At least Russia understand that keeping rattling their cage is a recipe for disaster. We kept pretending a paper tiger was a real threat, until it became a real one... Both regimes (the US and Iran) need each other to be their perennial boogie men in order to distract attention from domestic issues.

I doubt there will ever be an attack on Iran, it is just seasonal saber rating. Iran is also one of the main suppliers of oil for China, I doubt the red army would sit idly having to contemplate a serious threat regarding their oil supply. And then, things get interesting. I doubt there is enough lunacy in DC to even propose an attack on Iran as a serious alternative. But I assume the kabuki play will continue though.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. Iran has OIL - US oil under their soil - God's mistake - it shoulda been in Texas . . .

.

USA's domination around the Gulf is just trying to correct God's mistake of putting USA's oil in the wrong place . .

NO

this is not sarcasm

[Overseas]

2. K&R. I agree with Medvedev

We don't want to punish the people of Iran who are trying to push for more freedom from theocratic rule.