Iran: U.S., Russia Agree That Iran Should Not Enrich Uranium

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (right) with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared at a joint press conference today in Washington after their talks (epa) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today calmed U.S. concerns that Moscow was proposing a compromise on Iran's nuclear program, which Washington opposes. At a Washington news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Lavrov denied reports that Russia had suggested allowing Iran to enrich only a small amount of nuclear fuel on its own soil while Russia takes over the vast majority of such processing on its own territory. During the briefing, both Lavrov and Rice seemed to be in agreement on this issue, as well as several others.

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Russia and the United States seemed to be united on Tuesday on Iran, with both Rice and Lavrov saying Iran knows what it has to do to avoid United Nations sanctions.

"I think the United States has been very clear that [uranium] enrichment and reprocessing on Iranian soil is not acceptable because of the [nuclear] proliferation risk," Rice said.

Lavrov agreed, and said his ministry is still trying to persuade Iran to accept a proposal under which Russia would conduct all plutonium enrichment in an effort to keep Tehran from develop nuclear weapons. And he dismissed the idea of a rift between Washington and Moscow over reports that Russia had suggested a compromise.

"This [Russian uranium enrichment] initiative is not a new one. It was welcomed by all participants of the process, and there is no compromise proposal, and there could not be any compromise proposal."

Still Time For Iran To Avoid Sanctions

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is meeting in Vienna to decide whether to report Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions because it has resumed nuclear processing.

At the Washington news conference, Rice said it is not too late for Iran to avoid sanctions. "There is still time, of course, for the Iranians to react [to developments], but we have been very clear that we did not think that, as a first matter, we would try to move to sanctions in the first step of the [UN] Security Council."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al in Moscow, March 3 (epa)

Lavrov and Rice also discussed the so-called "road map" for peace in the Middle East, which is backed by Russia, the United States, the UN and the European Union -- known as the Quartet. There has been concern in Washington after Russian officials met with members of the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Moscow recently.

The United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group and have expressed regret over their victory in last month's elections for the Palestinian parliament. But Lavrov said today that it was important that a Quartet member tell Hamas leaders face-to-face that they must recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence.

Lavrov said Hamas' response was encouraging.

"We did hear from them that they would respect the authority and competence of [Palestinian] President [Mahmud] Abbas. We also heard from them that they would be ready to express their position on the 'road map,' and to hopefully endorse the 'road map' as drafted by the Quartet without any reservations to be added to this 'road map.' "

Russia-U.S. Rift Denied

Lavrov's visit to Washington follows the release of a report on U.S.-Russian relations by the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading think tank. The document says that under President Vladimir Putin, Russia is becoming increasingly authoritarian and that its foreign policy too often is at odds with the West.

Rice was asked about the state of relations between Washington and Moscow.

"I want to say that we continue to enjoy good relations with the Russian Federation. We continue to work together on a number of global problems."

Rice said she and Lavrov candidly and cordially discussed Washington's concerns about domestic issues in Russia. Still, she said, the concerns aren't so great as to keep Russia out of the World Trade Organization.

Russia belongs in the WTO, Rice said, and the United States is negotiating for its accession. She said the administration of President George W. Bush is negotiating a way to bring it into the organization in a way that will please not only the WTO, but also the U.S. Congress, which must approve accession.

After their briefing, Lavrov and Rice had a half-hour meeting with Bush at the White House. Afterward, Lavrov was asked if Russia would vote for the Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran. He replied that the idea of sanctions was still hypothetical.