Russia Says No To Iranian Sanctions

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister, promised on Thursday that Moscow would help Iran complete a civil nuclear power station by this summer, drawing criticism from Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state.

His remarks highlighted the continuing differences between the two powers over how to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Mrs Clinton was visiting Moscow on a trip partly designed to increase the pressure on Tehran by showing America’s unity with Russia.

But Mr Putin told a meeting held in Volgodonsk, southern Russia, that work to complete the Bushehr plant on Iran’s Gulf coast would soon be complete. “The first block of the Iranian atomic power station must be launched this summer,” he said.

Asked about Mr Putin’s remarks, Mrs Clinton said it “would be premature to go forward with any project at this time, because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians”.

However, she added: “We have consistently said that Iran is entitled to civil nuclear power. It is a nuclear weapons programme that it is not entitled to.”

Russian experts have been helping to build a light water reactor at Bushehr since the 1990s. Officials have previously said it would be finished this year.

Mrs Clinton is trying to build support for United Nations sanctions on Iran and has enjoyed more success in winning over Russia – which has signalled it could support limited measures – than other members of the Security Council such as China, Brazil and Turkey.

Appearing at the same press conference with Mrs Clinton, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said sanctions on Iran should be aimed solely at preventing nuclear proliferation rather than having any broader impact on the economy.

He added that construction at Bushehr, a project originally intended to be completed about a decade ago, was in its final stages.

Russia and the US agree that Iran has a right to civil nuclear power and Bushehr is not at the heart of US fears that Tehran is working towards nuclear weapons capability.

Mrs Clinton said that if Iran “reassures the world, or if its behaviour is changed because of international sanctions, then they can pursue peaceful, civil nuclear power.”

The US and Russia, owners of 22,000 of the world’s atomic weapons, are negotiating big cuts in deployed weapons and launch systems under a new nuclear arms agreement to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) that expired last December.

The US is eager to conclude the negotiations, a litmus test of its efforts to reset relations with Russia, before Barack Obama hosts a non-proliferation conference in May where he hopes to close loopholes exploited by countries such as Iran.

Ban Ki-Moon, UN secretary-general, urged the two sides to clinch a new Start treaty during talks with Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president in Moscow on Thursday.

“We very much value your efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons and we ... sincerely hope that you and US president Barack Obama can soon sign a new Start treaty,” he said in remarks posted on the Kremlin website.

Mr Medvedev said last month Russia would support smart sanctions against Iran, softening its earlier reluctance to back punitive measures against its traditional ally in the Middle East.

Mrs Clinton and Ban Ki-Moon will attend a meeting of Middle East mediators aimed at reviving peace talks between Israel and Palestine in Moscow on Friday.