Russia shifts stance on Iran, Ahmadinejad defiant

[SpartanDem]

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will join any consensus on more sanctions against Iran, a senior Russian diplomatic source said on Tuesday after Tehran declared it would expand nuclear activity in defiance of a U.N. rebuke.

It was a thinly veiled Russian warning to Iran of waning patience with its failure to allay fears it aims to develop atom bombs in secret, and hinted that Iran could no longer rely on Russia to stop tougher world action against it.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced defiance on Tuesday, saying sanctions would have no effect and that no more talks on the nuclear dispute were needed with the West. Speaking on state television, he also criticized Russian action.

Governors of the U.N. nuclear agency passed a resolution on Friday censuring Iran for covertly constructing a second enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, in addition to its IAEA-monitored one at Natanz, and demanding a construction halt


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSGEE5B023C20091201

[tabatha]

1. Ahmadinejad is as mad a s Mugabe.

But more dangerous with access to nuclear technology.

[wtmusic]

2. Or go back a few years to Idi Amin

who put the "idi" in idiot

[AverageJoe5]

3. Ahmadinejad is not mad, unless the definition of madness is ....

Ahmadinejad is not mad, unless the definition of madness is defying the selfish demands of those who want Iran to abandon its inalienable right to develop nuclear technology.

[yava]

6. I don't like Ahmadinejad but you are right

We either play by NTP rules at least to a min or we say goodbye to the UN

[cowcommander]

4. Looks like diplomacy with Russia has worked

It's nice to know that Russia is now on our side on this matter. Obama deserves credit for this.

[ronnie624]

5. "By referring to "consensus",

Russia could be leaving itself an escape hatch since China has been the most resistant to punitive steps against Iran among the six world powers.

The source made clear Moscow would not move so fast to embrace harsher sanctions as the United States and EU powers, who want to act early next year if Tehran has not begun fulfilling IAEA demands for nuclear restraint and transparency by then."


Didn't Iran and China recently form agreements to develop Iranian oil and gas reserves, which China needs desperately to supply its rapidly increasing energy needs? I wonder how keen China will be to alienate its very important business partner.

[AverageJoe5]

7. Russia is adopting the hypocrisy of the U.S.

Russia is as hypocritical as the U.S. on the Iran nuclear issue, so it's not surprising that Russia is on "our side" on this non-issue of the non-existent Iranian nuclear weapons. Recently, Russia conducted a simulated nuclear attack on Poland, and yet they claim to be concerned about non-existent Iranian nuclear weapons; that's the hypocrisy.

As for the U.S., the hypocrisy continues even under the Obama administration. A day before Obama held a state dinner for the Indian Prime Minister, Indian announced the successful test of a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. And yet Obama didn't express any concern about India's test of the missile, which shows that President Obama's UN Security Council Resolution of a world free of nuclear weapons was an empty gesture.