Russia is of course denying the report, but I was in the mood for some good news, so here's a quote from the news piece.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration Tuesday applauded a Russian ultimatum to Iran that it will not supply fuel for Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant until Iran agrees to suspend uranium enrichment.
A senior Bush administration official confirmed the Russian stance and said it will help ratchet up pressure on Iran to end its push for nuclear weapons.
Iran denies its nuclear program is intended for anything but peaceful purposes. Iran's state-run media said Tuesday that Moscow was an "unreliable partner" in nuclear cooperation, The Associated Press reported.
The senior administration official said the move came because Russia has "rising concerns about Iran having nuclear weapons on their southern flank."
The report of the ultimatum first appeared in Tuesday editions of The New York Times.
Russian and Iranian officials denied there had been any ultimatum issued. |
That's not to say there aren't other problems with the Russian-Iranian nuclear relationship. UN sanctions are preventing completion of the Bushehr plant, Iran is of course refusing to comply with the IAEA requests to verify the nature of Iran's nuclear program, and lastly, Iran is late on their payments to the Russians. Because of the late payments, Russia has slowly been pulling its technicians and engineers off the project.
It's not like it's going to matter anyway. Israel's going to have to save the day again and bomb the plant minutes before it goes active...Labels: Iran, nuclear weapons, Russia, UN |
