MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, 16 April 2006 — Iran is incapable of producing a nuclear weapon now or in the distant future, Russia’s highest-ranking military officer said yesterday, Russian news agencies reported. “I can confidently say that what Iran is doing today does not allow it the possibility, either in the near or distant future, to make a nuclear weapon,” chief of staff General Yury Baluyevsky was quoted as saying by Interfax and ITAR-Tass.
Baluyevsky characterized Iran’s military capability as being aimed only “at preventing military action” against the country, ITAR-Tass reported.
However, he did not rule out that materials used in the Islamic republic’s controversial civilian nuclear program “could be used also in the creation of a nuclear weapon.”
Russia is Iran’s main supplier of civilian nuclear technology and also an important source of conventional weapons. The United States and European Union say they suspect Iran is secretly trying to build a nuclear weapon under cover of a civilian power project, something Tehran denies.
Tension increased last Tuesday when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that the Islamic republic had successfully enriched uranium for use as nuclear fuel, sparking international condemnations.
Moscow insists the country has a right to nuclear power and has pushed hard for a diplomatic solution to the international standoff. Deputy foreign ministers from Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany plan talks on the Iranian issue in Moscow next Tuesday.
The United States will push its allies next week to consider targeted sanctions on Iran that include a freeze on assets and visa restrictions, the State Department said on Friday. Political directors from the main powers involved in trying to rein in Iran’s nuclear programs are due to meet in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss what action to take after Tehran announced this week it had become a nuclear power by enriching uranium.
The senior officials from France, Germany, Britain, the United States, Russia and China will look at “real actions” the United Nations can take to get Iran to change its behavior, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
The options under a Chapter 7 resolution under the UN charter could include a freeze on assets and travel restrictions on some members of the Iranian government, said McCormack. “These are all levers at the disposal of the international community,” McCormack told reporters.
While pushing for sanctions, US officials said they would not look at imposing restrictions on the oil and gas sectors, pointing out the intention was not to create further hardship for the Iranian people.
