Russia and China want talks, not sanctions

From DefenseNews

Russia, China Want Talks, Not Sanctions on Iran

By OLEG SHCHEDROV, REUTERS, MOSCOW

Russia and China made clear on Jan. 17 they do not favor U.N. sanctions to induce Iran to scale back its nuclear program, and Tehran urged the European Union to return to the negotiating table.

A senior British official dismissed as “vacuous” the Iranian offer, contained in a letter from Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tehran should first halt all uranium enrichment work.

“Talks presuppose an obligation. The Iranian obligation was to stick to the moratorium,” Lavrov said. “Now Iran (has departed from) the moratorium on scientific research.”

Britain, France and Germany called off the talks last week after Tehran resumed uranium enrichment research, deepening Western suspicions that it is bent on acquiring the bomb.

Washington and its EU allies say it is time the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency sent Iran’s case to the U.N. Security Council, which could eventually decide to impose sanctions on Iran.

A senior Iranian official said Tehran’s decision to resume nuclear fuel research is legal and “irreversible.”

Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, Iranian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also told the students news agency ISNA that he would meet the agency’s chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, later on Jan. 17 to discuss Iran’s plans.

An IAEA spokesman could not confirm a meeting was planned.

Soltaniyeh reiterated Iran’s threat to halt snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear sites if its case goes to the Security Council.

The senior British official said referral to the council would not automatically lead to punitive measures.

“We don’t see this leading straight into sanctions,” the official told reporters under condition he not be named. “We want to build gradual, sustained pressure over time. We are not going to New York to impose punitive economic sanctions.”

Lavrov also said talk of sanctions was premature.

“The question of sanctions against Iran puts the cart before the horse. Sanctions are in no way the best, or the only, way to solve the problem,” he told a news briefing.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing favors diplomacy, urging all parties to “keep patient and make utmost efforts to resume the negotiations between the EU3 and Iran.”

Germany earlier said council members remained at odds on the Iranian nuclear issue after talks on Jan. 16 in London among the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

However, participants did agree to call an emergency meeting of the IAEA board on Feb. 2.

An Iranian source in Vienna said Iran had written to the EU trio proposing that talks resume immediately and saying Tehran was ready to “remove existing ambiguities regarding its peaceful nuclear program through talks and negotiations.”

Russian Proposal

Iran’s letter also said it wanted to pursue scheduled talks with Russia over Moscow’s proposal to enrich uranium for Iran in a joint venture to prevent any diversion for military use.

“Iran believes that negotiations with Russia will continue seriously and constructively, and as planned, they will be on Feb. 16 in Moscow,” Vaeedi wrote.

Lavrov said that Russia’s offer to enrich uranium for Iran remained on the table. Tehran has previously sent mixed signals on the idea, which has EU and U.S. support.

German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler said Iran must keep its promises if it wants more talks with the EU3.

“Western states and the Europeans are ready at any time to restart talks, but only if Iran fulfils the pledges it has made,” he said.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy plans to go to Moscow on Jan. 18 to discuss Iran’s standoff with the West.

“Iran will be at the top of the agenda,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said, citing the importance of Russia’s stance.

Any Security Council action would need the consent of its five permanent members, including Russia and China, both wary of jeopardizing their major economic interests in Iran.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said: “We hope the Iranian side can cooperate with the efforts by the international community to restart the diplomatic negotiations.”

China gets about 12 percent of its oil imports from Iran.

Arguing against sanctions, Lavrov said a U.N. embargo against Iraq had failed to change Saddam Hussein’s behavior.

Asked under what conditions Russia would back sending Iran to the council, he said the IAEA’s role had not been exhausted.

Moscow’s $1 billion stake in building Iran’s first atomic reactor gives it potential leverage over Tehran.