MOSCOW, 6 June 2003 — Russia said yesterday it would supply nuclear fuel to Iran even if it failed to allow stricter UN inspections in a move defying international concerns.
Moscow’s latest comments put further strain on its relations with the West over Iran — identified as a member of an “axis of evil” by Washington — just as the two sides’ positions seemed to converge over the simmering dispute.
“Of course,” a top Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman retorted when asked whether Russia would supply Iran with nuclear fuel for its first reactor even if Tehran failed to sign a new UN protocol allowing broader inspections of its weapons program. Those two words laid to waste British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s announcement Wednesday that Putin had at the recent G-8 summit committed Russia not to sell nuclear fuel to Iran until it agreed to stricter international controls.
US media also reported that Moscow had given such assurances to Washington twice — once during a recent visit here by US Secretary of State Colin Powell and the second time at the G-8 talks.
Moscow contests US accusations that oil-rich Iran is using its atomic sites to develop nuclear weapons and is continuing to help build Iran’s first nuclear power station at Bushehr. But Putin recently said the positions of Russia and the West on Iran were “closer than they seem” and agreed that the international community must focus on Tehran’s military ambitions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman also stressed that Moscow still wanted to see Iran agree to stricter control by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“As for the additional protocols with the IAEA, Russia has actively worked on the development of these protocols and believes that their signature will significantly help in non-proliferation issues,” Yakovenko said.
The media and other observers here have struggled to comprehend the apparent volte-face in Russia’s position. Some suggested that Blair and other leaders simply did not understand which protocol on Iran Putin was talking about.
Moscow must still seal its own separate protocol with Tehran guaranteeing that all spent fuel from Bushehr is returned to Russia.
