Iran, Russia Medvedev: Iran nearing the potential which could be used to make a nuclear bomb
Iran, Russia Medvedev: Iran nearing the potential which could be used to make a nuclear bomb.
“We do not know what the ultimate goal behind these comments is, what operations are behind it… But we maintain our position clearly and we are doing nothing but claiming our rights”, he added.
“Russia is our neighbor and we want to maintain good relations but we are critical of some of its positions”.
In the clearest indication yet of Russian alarm over Teheran’s atomic drive, Medvedev said on Monday that “Iran is nearing the possession of the potential which in principle could be used for the creation of a nuclear weapon”.
Russia, traditionally a diplomatic and economic ally of Teheran, in the past took a milder line against Teheran than Western powers but recently noticeably hardened its position.
Iran has over the past months been announcing steady advances in its nuclear program, in defiance of international calls for Tehran to freeze its sensitive uranium enrichment operations.
Iran’s clerical regime says that its atomic drive is solely for peaceful means, but Western powers — and increasingly Russia — worry that it is bent on developing a nuclear weapon.
Russia’s tougher line on Iran has coincided with a warming of its relations with the United States. Washington has repeatedly praised Moscow for its support in the crisis.
The United States on Monday saluted Medvedev’s criticism of Iran and said it shared concerns that the Islamic republic could reach a “tipping point” in its nuclear drive.
Medvedev said that Iran was close to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon, the clearest sign yet of alarm about Teheran’s atomic drive from Russia — which in the past has taken a milder line than Western powers. “This is just indicative of the cooperation and shared perspective that the United States and Russia have reached on this issue,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
Iran’s clerical regime says that its atomic drive is solely for peaceful means, but Western powers — and increasingly Russia — worry that it is bent on developing a nuclear weapon.
President Barack Obama’s Administration has worked to repair relations with Russia after years of growing friction. Obama welcomed Medvedev for a friendly visit last month that included a choreographed trip to a burger joint.
‘Iran Guards can ‘cut hands’ of Western bullies’
For his part, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and its army have the strength to “cut off the hands” of Western powers.
“The power of the Revolutionary Guards and the army will cut off the hands of the arrogant and bullying powers”, Ahmadinejad told a gathering of Guards’ commanders, according to Sepahnews, the force’s website.
Hailing Iran’s strength as “indestructible”, the hardliner said the Guards were the symbol of Iran’s resistance against the United States and other Western powers.
“The world of arrogance [the West] is weaker and it cannot hurt the Iranian nation,” he said.
Ties between Iran and the West have worsened under the presidency of Ahmadinejad following his dogged refusal to suspend Teheran’s controversial nuclear program.
Several top commanders of the Guards have also often boasted of the force’s ability to combat Iran’s foes, especially Israel which has not ruled out a military strike to halt the nuclear program.
The Guards, set up after the 1979 Islamic revolution to defend it from internal and external threats, have expanded their role in the nation’s economic sectors under the Ahmadinejad presidency.
‘Iran backing a group eyed attack on US bases in Iraq’
Iranian-backed militants recently received specialist training inside Iran to help mount an attack on American military bases in Iraq, the top US commander in Baghdad has said.
General Ray Odierno detailed a plot in which he said Ketaib Hezballah, a Teheran-sponsored Shiite insurgent group, had planned an attack in recent weeks, prompting the US Army to increase its security measures.
“There has been some intelligence of Iranian surrogates attempting to attack US bases, which we are watching very carefully”, Odierno told reporters at Camp Victory, a giant US base west of the capital.
“In the last couple of weeks there has been an increased threat of a potential Iran attack… so we have increased our security in some of our bases”, said the general, who commands all 74,000 US troops stationed in Iraq. “This is another attempt by Iran and others to attempt to influence the US role here inside of Iraq”, he added, naming Ketaib Hezballah as the militant group behind the conspiracy, and describing the threat as “consistent”.
The US military maintains that Shiite militant groups backed by Iran have in recent years been used to bolster Teheran’s influence in Iraq, which remains without a new government four months after an inconclusive general election.
The disclosure of a plan to attack American military facilities comes as Washington withdraws combat troops from the country.
Odierno declined to say which US bases had been targeted and said it was unclear if the Tehran government was directly involved in the plot.
“It’s convoluted. It’s always very convoluted”, said the general when asked if the Iranian leadership had played a role.
“What we do know is the people getting ready to conduct this attack went back, got special training in Iran, they came back and we know that there were experts sent from Iran into Iraq to help them to do this in the last month or so”.
Odierno said the threat would not disrupt an ongoing drawdown of US combat forces that will see American combat troops leave Iraq by September 1, after which a 50,000 training and advisory force will remain until December 2011.
Ahmadinejad in flap over wearing of ties
Ahmadinejad has run into trouble with a conservative cleric over whether men are allowed to wear ties in the Islamic republic, the news agency ISNA reported last week.
“I say to him that many religious dignitaries believe ties should not be worn”, said Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who is normally a close ally of the president, a fellow hard-liner.
“The supreme guide [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] himself has said in a fatwa (religious edict) that the wearing of ties or bowties is not permitted”, Khatami said.
In the latest such controversy, Ahmadinejad has gone on record as saying that no religious leader has banned the tie, which since the 1979 Islamic revolution has been regarded as a symbol of Western “decadence”.
But the tie has in past years been making a comeback in Iran, especially at events such as weddings and funerals.
Khatami also criticized the president for saying it was not a problem for a man to shave his beard.
“I call on Mr Ahmadinejad not to take up complicated religious questions because this weakens the government”, he said.
In June, the Iranian president aroused the wrath of fellow hardliners and several top Shiite clerics for criticising a police crackdown on improperly veiled women.
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