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Iran, Russia Exchange Acerbic Barbs on Sanctions
MOSCOW Russia and Iran publicly traded barbs on Wednesday, showing strains in their longstanding alliance because of Moscow's support for a new set of American-backed sanctions over the Iranian nuclear program.During a televised speech in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at his Russian counterparts, who last week agreed, along with the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, on the draft language for the proposed new sanctions, which would punish Iranian financial institutions and countries that offer Iran nuclear-related technology. We do not like to see our neighbor supporting those who have shown animosity to us for 30 years,' Mr. Ahmadinejad said in the speech broadcast from the southern city of Kerman. This is not acceptable for the Iranian nation. I hope they will pay attention and take corrective action.' If I were in the place of Russian officials, I would adopt a more careful stance,' he said.
Russia should not think that short-term cooperation with the United States is in its interest,' said the ambassador, Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi. The green light the United States is showing Russia will not last long.' A top Kremlin aide said Wednesday that Russia was guided by its own long-term interests, and that our position can be neither pro-American, nor pro-Iranian.' The aide, Sergei Prikhodko, went on to say that Russia rejected extremism and unpredictability in the global arena, and that those who speak on behalf of the fraternal people of Iran' should not forget this. No one has ever managed to save his authority by making use of political demagoguery,' Mr. Prikhodko said in remarks carried by Interfax, a Russian news agency. And I am sure that the thousand-year-long history of Iran itself proves that.' Last week, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, offered cautious support for a draft Security Council resolution that would impose a fourth set of sanctions on Iran. But he emphasized that the draft needed approval from the council's nonpermanent members, and he encouraged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to consider Tehran's newest proposal to enrich uranium in Turkey. Tension has also been building between Moscow and Tehran over a proposed sale of S-300 antiaircraft missiles to Tehran, a contract that Russia has suspended but not canceled. Washington has pressed Moscow not to deliver the weapons, which could help Iran shoot down American or Israeli warplanes should either try to bomb its nuclear facilities. Posted by: Steve White 2010-05-27 |
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