Story Highlights• U.S. says Russia gives Iran ultimatum to stop nuclear enrichment• Iran denies any ultimatum, but reports political disagreements with Russia • Fears raised that Iranian nuclear energy plants could yield nuclear bombs Adjust font size:
    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. "There have been no Russian ultimatums to Iran of any kind," Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said He added, "Our deal with the Iranians is on track; it's intact; it's still there. We're still working on it." Churkin said, though, that Russia is "strongly in favor of limiting nuclear proliferation." Asked about a report that Russia is pulling its engineers from the Iranian nuclear reactor site in Bushehr, he said, "I have not heard that report." "People rotate personnel and stuff, so be very careful about those matters," Churkin said. In an Interfax news wire, the spokesman for the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry, Sergei Novikov, said no more than 6 percent of Russian specialists have left the Bushehr power plant. "There are still about 2,000 Russian specialists there," he said. The New York Times reported that the ultimatum was delivered last week by Igor Ivanov, Russia's national security adviser, to Ali Hosseini Tash, Iran's deputy chief nuclear negotiator. Tash, who is also deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said in a Reuters News Service report there had been no ultimatum. "I deny this news, and the situation was completely the other way around," he said on state-run radio. "Mr. Ivanov was trying to convince us that these issues are not related, meaning the Bushehr issue is not related to the nuclear issue." In Moscow, the Kremlin's deputy press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, also denied that Russia has issued an "ultimatum" to Iran to withhold nuclear fuel for the Bushehr power plant if Iran does not suspend uranium enrichment. Peskov told CNN the "language of 'ultimatum' is not appropriate," but several problems do exist. He confirmed that Ivanov and Tash met last week and discussed Bushehr as well as broader issues of Iran's nuclear program. Peskov said the Russian official told the Iranians that some "third countries" that have agreed to provide equipment to Bushehr are not able to do so because of U.N. sanctions, which has complicated attempts to complete the plant. And there is another major problem: Russia says that Iran is not making all necessary payments for work on the $1 billion Bushehr plant. The Iranians deny they are in arrears. A third problem involves the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, Peskov said. "Iran's reluctance to clarify concerns of the IAEA experts on the nature of its nuclear program will only lead to the situation becoming more complicated," he said. About the claim made Tuesday by a Bush administration official that some of what is driving this disagreement between Russia and Iran is "rising" Russian concern about Iran's having a nuclear weapon on Russia's southern flank, Peskov said: "Russia has always been concerned about having a military nuclear state on its borders" but Bushehr is "a separate issue." However, Iranian media said Russia's problems were political, not technical, according to the AP report. "Double-standard stances by Russian officials regarding Iran's nuclear issue shows that Russians are not a reliable partner in the field of nuclear cooperation," an Iranian commentary said. CNN's Ed Henry and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report. Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. |
Get up-to-the minute news from CNNCNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. |
Russia says it will no longer provide fuel to Iran's nuclear plant in Bushehr, the New York Times reports.
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video.