Forum   Contacts   RSS
AtomInfo.Ru


Iran strike would be catastrophic: Putin

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED February 27, 2012

Russia is troubled by the growing threat of a military strike on Iran, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday, adding that fear of foreign intervention pushes other “nuclear threshold” states to acquire nuclear weapons, rather than dissuading them.

“Russia is alarmed by the growing threat of a military strike” against Iran, Putin said in a lengthy campaign article focusing on Russia’s foreign policy, published in the daily Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper ahead of presidential elections on March 4, which he is widely expected to win.

“If this happens, the consequences will be truly catastrophic, their real scope impossible to imagine,” Putin wrote.

Such a military strike is increasingly reported as being an option under consideration by Israeli and US military planners as Iran moves ahead with its uranium enrichment program. Western countries and Israel say Iran is trying to build atomic weapons. Tehran rejects that accusation and says its nuclear activities are solely for civilian purposes.

“We propose to recognize Iran’s right to develop a civilian nuclear program, including the right to enrich uranium” in exchange for placing the country’s nuclear activities under the tight control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the international nuclear safety watchdog, Putin said.

If this is achieved, then all sanctions against Iran, including unilaterally imposed by individual countries, need to be lifted, Putin said in the 6,000-word article outlining his foreign policy vision ahead of the elections next Sunday.

In the article, Putin lashed out at the West for excessive pressure on sovereign countries by means of sanctions and military interventions, clearly referring to the NATO-led military operations in Iraq and Libya.

“There is a feeling that increasingly often cases of crude and even violent interventions from outside the internal affairs of other countries may stimulate certain authoritarian regimes, and not just them, to acquire nuclear weapons,” Putin said. “Say, ‘if I have an atomic bomb in my pocket, no one will touch me because the cost of it would be too high’. And if someone has no such a bomb, he can expect some kind of ‘humanitarian’ intervention.”

Thus, the number of the so-called “nuclear threshold” states, or countries that can quickly develop military nuclear technologies, is growing rather than shrinking, Putin argued, in what increases risks of nuclear proliferation.

Speaking of North Korea, which has already conducted two tests of its own nuclear bombs, Putin said that Russia calls for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, which should be achieved only through diplomatic efforts.

“But not all our partners share this approach… Any attempts to test the hardness of the new North Korean leader are not acceptable as they would essentially provoke counter-measures,” Putin said, referring to the 28-year-old Kim Jong-un who succeeded his deceased father Kim Jong-il at the helm of the Communist regime late last year.

Topics: Iran, Russia


Other news:

IAEA Delegation Arrives in Iran to Discuss Nuclear Program

The IAEA delegation is led by Herman Nackaerts who is in charge of the Iran nuclear file.

Prokhorov Suggests Moving Skolkovo to Kaliningrad

In my view, the hi-tech hub should not be constructed in Moscow. I suggest moving Skolkovo to Kaliningrad.

Rosatom Managers Sacked, Fined over Corporate Party

According to the Dozhd TV channel, the corporation paid 12.5 million rubles (about $400,000) for the New Year’s bash.


Hero of the day

Vladimir Evseyev

Iran views of its nuclear issue

It is difficult to say what will happen next, especially since the international community is split into two opposing camps on this issue. This article will analyze both of them, also taking into account the situation in Tehran.



INTERVIEW

Georgy Toshinsky

Georgy Toshinsky
Not quite so. The authors of the concept, which was difficult to be realized in practice, turned to a clearer concept of a standing wave reactor (TP-1) that in principle allows finding the solution to the tasks stated for TWRs.


OPINION

Konstantin Bogdanov

Konstantin Bogdanov
The Yury Dolgoruky, the first Borei-class SSBN carrying Bulava missiles, is one step away from being put into service.


Search:


Rambler's Top100