Putin, Khatami to discuss defence tie-up

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MARCH 10. Iran's President, Mr. Mohammad Khatami, arrives in Moscow on Monday for talks to be dominated by defence cooperation and the sharing of the Caspian Sea oil riches.

The visit marks a new high point in bilateral relations that have been on the upswing since the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, took over in the Kremlin last year. In December, the Russian Defence Minister, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, visited Iran to discuss resuming defence supplies to Teheran after Moscow walked out of a 1995 secret agreement with the United States not to supply military hardware to Iran. Washington threatened to impose sanctions against Moscow if it went ahead with the arms sales.

Mr. Khatami will be accompanied by the Defence Minister, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, but no defence deals are expected to be signed during the visit. First contracts could be inked in the middle of the year, according to Mr. Viktor Komardin, deputy director of the Russian weapons sales company Rosoboronexport.

Defence sources in Moscow said Russia would begin by repairing and upgrading weapon systems it supplied to Iran earlier. These include Kilo submarines, SU-24 and MIG-29 planes, T-72 tanks, and armoured personnel carriers. Iran is also said to be willing to purchase Su-27 fighters, Su-25 attack planes, Mi-17 helicopters, as well as air defence systems ranging from the shoulder-fired Igla to the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.

The Iranian Ambassador to Moscow, Mr. Mehdi Safari, recently said Russia could export up to $7 billion worth of conventional arms to Iran over the next few years.

The two Presidents will sign a political statement that is expected to reflect their joint opposition to the U.S. Star Wars plans and shared views on Afghanistan and Central Asia. Iran is also likely to support the Russian proposal for setting up a global missile technology control regime.

Iran's Defence Minister will fly to Moscow from Tajikistan where he called for closer cooperation with Tajikistan and Russia in the struggle against terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking. Russia and Iran are already cooperating in providing military aid to the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. One of the few divisive issues between Moscow and Teheran is the problem of sharing the oil and gas reserves lying below the surface of the Caspian Sea, which is emerging as the world's third largest oil- bearing region after the Persian Gulf and Siberia.

Russia, Kazakhstan and, increasingly, Azerbaijan, all favour splitting up the seabed using median lines starting at the coastline borders, as is done in lakes. But this would give Iran only about 13 per cent of the seabed, with very little oil in it. Iran and Turkmenistan favour giving each country the rights to 20 per cent of the seabed.

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Section  : International
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