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Russia plan for Iran upsets U.S. and Europe

 
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:32 am    Post subject: Russia plan for Iran upsets U.S. and Europe Reply with quote


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060307/photos_wl_afp/a96ec0cf01e91a381ca120b698fe54db
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov(L) speaks at a press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice following talks at the State Department in Washington. Stiff US opposition and a refusal by Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment appeared to doom a Russian compromise designed to head off UN Security Council action on Tehran's atomic program.(AFP/Nicholas Kamm)

Russia plan for Iran upsets U.S. and Europe
By Elaine Sciolino The New York Times

TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/07/news/iran.php

VIENNA A serious split has emerged between Russia and the United States and Europe on Iran's nuclear program after the Russians floated a last-minute proposal to allow Iran to make small quantities of nuclear fuel, according to European officials.

The reports of the proposal prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and according to an administration official who was briefed on the conversation, "she said the United States cannot support this."

[Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing appealed Tuesday for more negotiation and for all sides in the dispute to stay calm, The Associated Press reported from Beijing.

["Iran should cooperate closely with the IAEA to settle the nuclear dispute," Li said in a nationally televised news conference held during the annual session of China's Parliament. "There is still room for settlement of the issue in the IAEA," Li said.]

Rice's call came after ElBaradei suggested to reporters that the standoff with Iran could be resolved in a week or so, apparently an allusion to the Russian proposal. Washington's strategy is to get past the meeting of the IAEA that opened Monday and, under a resolution passed by the agency's board in February, have the issue turned over to the UN Security Council immediately. But officials clearly fear that the Russian proposal is intended to slow that process.

American officials said they had been assured by the Russians that there was no formal proposal on the table. The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is in Washington, meeting with senior U.S. officials. He was scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush at the White House on Tuesday.

Under the Russian proposal, Iran would temporarily suspend all uranium enrichment activities at its facility at Natanz but then be allowed to do what Russia describes as "limited research activities" in Iran's uranium enrichment program, said the European officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing normal diplomatic rules.

Iran would have to agree to a moratorium on production of enriched uranium on an industrial scale for seven to nine years, ratify additional measures that let the nuclear agency conduct intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities, and create a joint venture with Russia on the production of enriched uranium on Russian soil, the officials said.

The proposal, which has not been made public, spurred ElBaradei to give an upbeat assessment about a possible swift resolution of the impasse over Iran's program, an official familiar with his thinking said.

In a tonal shift, ElBaradei said Iran had made concessions on some issues. Calling Iran's activities at its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz "the sticking point," he added, "That issue is still being discussed this week, and I still hope that in the next week or so that agreement could still be reached."

In an interview Monday evening, R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said the administration would reject any proposal that did not require the Iranians to stop domestic nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities.

"The United States will not support any halfway measures," he said. "That means full suspension of all nuclear activities, and a return to negotiations on that basis."

Rice told ElBaradei that Washington wanted to see Iran's case before the Security Council as soon as this week's agency board meeting was over; that the United States would seek a presidential statement, which does not carry the weight of a resolution, noting Iran's past failures to comply with its international commitments; and that Iran's case would then be sent back to the nuclear agency for further review, according to an official with knowledge of the conversation.

The Russian proposal is a reversal of its previous stance and seemed by its determination to protect Iran from judgment by the Security Council.

Russia - and even China - had joined the United States and the Europeans in demanding that Iran resume a freeze of uranium enrichment activities at Natanz, reflecting mounting global suspicion that Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons.

The Russian proposal surfaced late last week, when Sergei Kisliak, Russia's chief nuclear negotiator, presented it to European officials.

He said Iran would have to resume full suspension of all enrichment-related activities, including what it calls its small-scale "research and development," while the agreement on the package was negotiated. Once there was an agreement, however, Iran would be allowed to conduct limited uranium enrichment research activities under a pilot program as agreed with the IAEA.

As soon as Iran and the agency agreed on the small-scale enrichment, Iran's Parliament would ratify the "Additional Protocol" to Iran's nuclear agreement. That protocol gives the nuclear agency's inspectors the right to ask for exceptional access to Iran's nuclear facilities. When one of the Europeans asked Kisliak for his definition of a pilot program, he said there was no real definition, one official said.

A moratorium on industrial-scale enrichment and reprocessing activities would last two to three years while the nuclear agency carried out an investigation of Iran's past nuclear activities, and five to six years more until trust with Iran could be rebuilt.

Kisliak conceded that a major risk of such a package was that Iran would inch closer to mastering the technology for a small cascade of centrifuges that turn uranium hexafluoride gas into enriched uranium that can be used to produce electricity or to make bombs.

He added that it would shorten the period needed for Iran to "manufacture a weapon" by a number of months, one official familiar with the briefing said.

Iran has always contended its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, although Russia, like the United States and the Europeans, is convinced that it intends to make nuclear weapons.

Kisliak speculated that Iran was unlikely to accept the proposal, in part because of the long-term constraints on its industrial-scale enrichment program.

The proposal threatened to derail a carefully formulated, but fragile strategy to send Iran's case to the Security Council. Last month's resolution by the nuclear agency board demanded that no action be taken in the Council until after the current board meeting, a way to give Iran one last chance to comply with the agency's demands.

Even though there is no specific timetable to seek economic sanctions on Iran, both Russia and China are opposed to sanctions.

There is no need for another resolution to be passed by the agency's board this time for the Security Council to act. Certainly, ElBaradei is looking for a negotiated solution to the Iran impasse, even if it means giving Iran a significant concession on making nuclear fuel.

In a conversation with the German and French foreign ministers, a senior British Foreign Office envoy and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, in Vienna last Friday, ElBaradei expressed the view that Iran needed to continue some uranium enrichment work as a face-saving measure, a European official said.

The Europeans, who met earlier with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, replied that it was not a question of saving face but of maintaining both the credibility of the nuclear agency and a firm position toward Iran.

David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington for this article.

VIENNA A serious split has emerged between Russia and the United States and Europe on Iran's nuclear program after the Russians floated a last-minute proposal to allow Iran to make small quantities of nuclear fuel, according to European officials.

The reports of the proposal prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and according to an administration official who was briefed on the conversation, "she said the United States cannot support this."

[Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing appealed Tuesday for more negotiation and for all sides in the dispute to stay calm, The Associated Press reported from Beijing.

["Iran should cooperate closely with the IAEA to settle the nuclear dispute," Li said in a nationally televised news conference held during the annual session of China's Parliament. "There is still room for settlement of the issue in the IAEA," Li said.]

Rice's call came after ElBaradei suggested to reporters that the standoff with Iran could be resolved in a week or so, apparently an allusion to the Russian proposal. Washington's strategy is to get past the meeting of the IAEA that opened Monday and, under a resolution passed by the agency's board in February, have the issue turned over to the UN Security Council immediately. But officials clearly fear that the Russian proposal is intended to slow that process.

American officials said they had been assured by the Russians that there was no formal proposal on the table. The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is in Washington, meeting with senior U.S. officials. He was scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush at the White House on Tuesday.

Under the Russian proposal, Iran would temporarily suspend all uranium enrichment activities at its facility at Natanz but then be allowed to do what Russia describes as "limited research activities" in Iran's uranium enrichment program, said the European officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing normal diplomatic rules.

Iran would have to agree to a moratorium on production of enriched uranium on an industrial scale for seven to nine years, ratify additional measures that let the nuclear agency conduct intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities, and create a joint venture with Russia on the production of enriched uranium on Russian soil, the officials said.

The proposal, which has not been made public, spurred ElBaradei to give an upbeat assessment about a possible swift resolution of the impasse over Iran's program, an official familiar with his thinking said.

In a tonal shift, ElBaradei said Iran had made concessions on some issues. Calling Iran's activities at its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz "the sticking point," he added, "That issue is still being discussed this week, and I still hope that in the next week or so that agreement could still be reached."

In an interview Monday evening, R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said the administration would reject any proposal that did not require the Iranians to stop domestic nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities.

"The United States will not support any halfway measures," he said. "That means full suspension of all nuclear activities, and a return to negotiations on that basis."

Rice told ElBaradei that Washington wanted to see Iran's case before the Security Council as soon as this week's agency board meeting was over; that the United States would seek a presidential statement, which does not carry the weight of a resolution, noting Iran's past failures to comply with its international commitments; and that Iran's case would then be sent back to the nuclear agency for further review, according to an official with knowledge of the conversation.

The Russian proposal is a reversal of its previous stance and seemed by its determination to protect Iran from judgment by the Security Council.

Russia - and even China - had joined the United States and the Europeans in demanding that Iran resume a freeze of uranium enrichment activities at Natanz, reflecting mounting global suspicion that Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons.

The Russian proposal surfaced late last week, when Sergei Kisliak, Russia's chief nuclear negotiator, presented it to European officials.

He said Iran would have to resume full suspension of all enrichment-related activities, including what it calls its small-scale "research and development," while the agreement on the package was negotiated. Once there was an agreement, however, Iran would be allowed to conduct limited uranium enrichment research activities under a pilot program as agreed with the IAEA.

As soon as Iran and the agency agreed on the small-scale enrichment, Iran's Parliament would ratify the "Additional Protocol" to Iran's nuclear agreement. That protocol gives the nuclear agency's inspectors the right to ask for exceptional access to Iran's nuclear facilities. When one of the Europeans asked Kisliak for his definition of a pilot program, he said there was no real definition, one official said.

A moratorium on industrial-scale enrichment and reprocessing activities would last two to three years while the nuclear agency carried out an investigation of Iran's past nuclear activities, and five to six years more until trust with Iran could be rebuilt.

Kisliak conceded that a major risk of such a package was that Iran would inch closer to mastering the technology for a small cascade of centrifuges that turn uranium hexafluoride gas into enriched uranium that can be used to produce electricity or to make bombs.

He added that it would shorten the period needed for Iran to "manufacture a weapon" by a number of months, one official familiar with the briefing said.

Iran has always contended its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, although Russia, like the United States and the Europeans, is convinced that it intends to make nuclear weapons.

Kisliak speculated that Iran was unlikely to accept the proposal, in part because of the long-term constraints on its industrial-scale enrichment program.

The proposal threatened to derail a carefully formulated, but fragile strategy to send Iran's case to the Security Council. Last month's resolution by the nuclear agency board demanded that no action be taken in the Council until after the current board meeting, a way to give Iran one last chance to comply with the agency's demands.

Even though there is no specific timetable to seek economic sanctions on Iran, both Russia and China are opposed to sanctions.

There is no need for another resolution to be passed by the agency's board this time for the Security Council to act. Certainly, ElBaradei is looking for a negotiated solution to the Iran impasse, even if it means giving Iran a significant concession on making nuclear fuel.

In a conversation with the German and French foreign ministers, a senior British Foreign Office envoy and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, in Vienna last Friday, ElBaradei expressed the view that Iran needed to continue some uranium enrichment work as a face-saving measure, a European official said.

The Europeans, who met earlier with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, replied that it was not a question of saving face but of maintaining both the credibility of the nuclear agency and a firm position toward Iran.

David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington for this article.

VIENNA A serious split has emerged between Russia and the United States and Europe on Iran's nuclear program after the Russians floated a last-minute proposal to allow Iran to make small quantities of nuclear fuel, according to European officials.

The reports of the proposal prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and according to an administration official who was briefed on the conversation, "she said the United States cannot support this."

[Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing appealed Tuesday for more negotiation and for all sides in the dispute to stay calm, The Associated Press reported from Beijing.

["Iran should cooperate closely with the IAEA to settle the nuclear dispute," Li said in a nationally televised news conference held during the annual session of China's Parliament. "There is still room for settlement of the issue in the IAEA," Li said.]

Rice's call came after ElBaradei suggested to reporters that the standoff with Iran could be resolved in a week or so, apparently an allusion to the Russian proposal. Washington's strategy is to get past the meeting of the IAEA that opened Monday and, under a resolution passed by the agency's board in February, have the issue turned over to the UN Security Council immediately. But officials clearly fear that the Russian proposal is intended to slow that process.

American officials said they had been assured by the Russians that there was no formal proposal on the table. The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is in Washington, meeting with senior U.S. officials. He was scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush at the White House on Tuesday.

Under the Russian proposal, Iran would temporarily suspend all uranium enrichment activities at its facility at Natanz but then be allowed to do what Russia describes as "limited research activities" in Iran's uranium enrichment program, said the European officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing normal diplomatic rules.

Iran would have to agree to a moratorium on production of enriched uranium on an industrial scale for seven to nine years, ratify additional measures that let the nuclear agency conduct intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities, and create a joint venture with Russia on the production of enriched uranium on Russian soil, the officials said.

The proposal, which has not been made public, spurred ElBaradei to give an upbeat assessment about a possible swift resolution of the impasse over Iran's program, an official familiar with his thinking said.

In a tonal shift, ElBaradei said Iran had made concessions on some issues. Calling Iran's activities at its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz "the sticking point," he added, "That issue is still being discussed this week, and I still hope that in the next week or so that agreement could still be reached."

In an interview Monday evening, R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said the administration would reject any proposal that did not require the Iranians to stop domestic nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities.

"The United States will not support any halfway measures," he said. "That means full suspension of all nuclear activities, and a return to negotiations on that basis."

Rice told ElBaradei that Washington wanted to see Iran's case before the Security Council as soon as this week's agency board meeting was over; that the United States would seek a presidential statement, which does not carry the weight of a resolution, noting Iran's past failures to comply with its international commitments; and that Iran's case would then be sent back to the nuclear agency for further review, according to an official with knowledge of the conversation.

The Russian proposal is a reversal of its previous stance and seemed by its determination to protect Iran from judgment by the Security Council.

Russia - and even China - had joined the United States and the Europeans in demanding that Iran resume a freeze of uranium enrichment activities at Natanz, reflecting mounting global suspicion that Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons.

The Russian proposal surfaced late last week, when Sergei Kisliak, Russia's chief nuclear negotiator, presented it to European officials.

He said Iran would have to resume full suspension of all enrichment-related activities, including what it calls its small-scale "research and development," while the agreement on the package was negotiated. Once there was an agreement, however, Iran would be allowed to conduct limited uranium enrichment research activities under a pilot program as agreed with the IAEA.

As soon as Iran and the agency agreed on the small-scale enrichment, Iran's Parliament would ratify the "Additional Protocol" to Iran's nuclear agreement. That protocol gives the nuclear agency's inspectors the right to ask for exceptional access to Iran's nuclear facilities. When one of the Europeans asked Kisliak for his definition of a pilot program, he said there was no real definition, one official said.

A moratorium on industrial-scale enrichment and reprocessing activities would last two to three years while the nuclear agency carried out an investigation of Iran's past nuclear activities, and five to six years more until trust with Iran could be rebuilt.

Kisliak conceded that a major risk of such a package was that Iran would inch closer to mastering the technology for a small cascade of centrifuges that turn uranium hexafluoride gas into enriched uranium that can be used to produce electricity or to make bombs.

He added that it would shorten the period needed for Iran to "manufacture a weapon" by a number of months, one official familiar with the briefing said.

Iran has always contended its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, although Russia, like the United States and the Europeans, is convinced that it intends to make nuclear weapons.

Kisliak speculated that Iran was unlikely to accept the proposal, in part because of the long-term constraints on its industrial-scale enrichment program.

The proposal threatened to derail a carefully formulated, but fragile strategy to send Iran's case to the Security Council. Last month's resolution by the nuclear agency board demanded that no action be taken in the Council until after the current board meeting, a way to give Iran one last chance to comply with the agency's demands.

Even though there is no specific timetable to seek economic sanctions on Iran, both Russia and China are opposed to sanctions.

There is no need for another resolution to be passed by the agency's board this time for the Security Council to act. Certainly, ElBaradei is looking for a negotiated solution to the Iran impasse, even if it means giving Iran a significant concession on making nuclear fuel.

In a conversation with the German and French foreign ministers, a senior British Foreign Office envoy and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, in Vienna last Friday, ElBaradei expressed the view that Iran needed to continue some uranium enrichment work as a face-saving measure, a European official said.

The Europeans, who met earlier with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, replied that it was not a question of saving face but of maintaining both the credibility of the nuclear agency and a firm position toward Iran.

David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington for this article.

VIENNA A serious split has emerged between Russia and the United States and Europe on Iran's nuclear program after the Russians floated a last-minute proposal to allow Iran to make small quantities of nuclear fuel, according to European officials.

The reports of the proposal prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and according to an administration official who was briefed on the conversation, "she said the United States cannot support this."

[Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing appealed Tuesday for more negotiation and for all sides in the dispute to stay calm, The Associated Press reported from Beijing.

["Iran should cooperate closely with the IAEA to settle the nuclear dispute," Li said in a nationally televised news conference held during the annual session of China's Parliament. "There is still room for settlement of the issue in the IAEA," Li said.]

Rice's call came after ElBaradei suggested to reporters that the standoff with Iran could be resolved in a week or so, apparently an allusion to the Russian proposal. Washington's strategy is to get past the meeting of the IAEA that opened Monday and, under a resolution passed by the agency's board in February, have the issue turned over to the UN Security Council immediately. But officials clearly fear that the Russian proposal is intended to slow that process.

American officials said they had been assured by the Russians that there was no formal proposal on the table. The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is in Washington, meeting with senior U.S. officials. He was scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush at the White House on Tuesday.

Under the Russian proposal, Iran would temporarily suspend all uranium enrichment activities at its facility at Natanz but then be allowed to do what Russia describes as "limited


Last edited by cyrus on Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:25 pm; edited 3 times in total
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:59 pm    Post subject: Cheney: Iran Faces 'Meaningful Consequences' if It Doesn't C Reply with quote

Cheney: Iran Faces 'Meaningful Consequences' if It Doesn't Curb Nuclear Program

By Fred Barbash and Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 7, 2006; 1:57 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/07/AR2006030700670.html?nav=rss_world/mideast

Vice President Cheney threatened Iran today with "meaningful consequences" if it fails to cooperate with international efforts to curb its nuclear program.

"For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the regime," Cheney said in a speech to the pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

"And we join other nations in sending that regime a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

Cheney's comments came as Russia appeared to close ranks with the United States over the Iranian nuclear issue. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington that the Russians had no "new proposal" for the Iranians.

In Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Commission is meeting on the issue, diplomats earlier had talked about a Russian proposal to let Iran carry out small-scale uranium enrichment for research, news services reported.

"The United States has been very clear that enrichment and reprocessing on Iranian soil is not acceptable because of the proliferation risk," Rice said at a joint State Department news conference with Lavrov. Rice and Lavrov, who also held a dinner meeting last night, then went to the White House to meet with President Bush.

Cheney's comments, as strong as any to come from the very top of the U.S. government, come at a delicate moment, as the IAEA discusses its response to Iran's recalcitrance. Iran has insisted that its research is geared to energy production, but the United States and European countries have said such research could be used for nuclear weapons.

The IAEA meeting in Vienna has loomed as a showdown since Feb. 4, when the U.N. agency's governing panel voted 27 to 3 to report Iran to the Security Council. Any action by the council, however, has been held back as diplomats await final action this week at the IAEA meetings in Vienna, where the agency will be presented with a formal report on Iran's efforts, and in the hopes that Iran would back off from threats to restart its enrichment program.

The resumption of Iranian nuclear research came about two years after Iran voluntarily suspended such activities.

The U.N. Security Council has the power to impose economic or other sanctions on Iran, although diplomats say the council would likely choose measures that gradually increased pressure on Tehran.

"We will see what is necessary to do in the Security Council," Rice said at the news conference. She said there is "still time" for Iranians to react positively.

The IAEA board is not expected take a final vote until late in the week. That leaves several days for last-ditch negotiations, and on Sunday, Iranian officials indicated the talks may bear fruit, warning that if the Security Council becomes involved, it will resume full-scale nuclear enrichment, the process that can produce fuel both for civilian and military uses.

The IAEA has demanded Iran suspend nuclear enrichment completely.

Separately, the White House said it expects the Security Council to move against Iran unequivocally.

"The international community has spelled out what Iran must do that means suspend all enrichment activity," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said ahead of Bush's meeting with Lavrov today.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, speaking at a briefing at the Pentagon, said Iran is "currently putting people into Iraq to do things that are harmful to the future of Iraq. It is something that they, I think, will look back on as having been an error in judgment."

Asked if any Iranian-backed weapons were coming into Iraq, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, "There have been some IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and some weapons that are traceable back to Iran."
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