The Hindu : Iran has no n-weapon plans: Putin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

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Iran has no n-weapon plans: Putin

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW JUNE 20. Iran has assured Russia that it has no plans to build nuclear weapons and is willing to place its nuclear programme under full international control.

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said he had received personal assurances from Iran's top leaders that they had no nuclear ambitions. "Two days ago I spoke by telephone with President Khatami and he once more confirmed that Iran has no plans to create nuclear weapons," Mr. Putin said in a televised news conference on Friday. "What is more, according to our information, the Iranian leadership is fully ready to join all protocols and (agree) with all demands by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) from the point of view of control over its nuclear programmes," he said.

The Russian leader was visibly happy with the IAEA Board of Governors' refusal on Thursday to charge Iran with a breach of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. "They did not pass any resolutions condemning Iran," Mr. Putin said.

Russia has come under strong pressure from the U.S. to stop building a nuclear reactor in Bushehr because it allegedly would help Iran develop nuclear weapons. Mr. Putin today reiterated his suspicion that the U.S. criticism was prompted by a desire to weaken Russia as a competitor in the nuclear technologies market. "We are against the nuclear card being used for unscrupulous competition on the Iranian market," he said.

A spokesman for the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry today hailed IAEA's ruling on Iran as a triumph for Moscow that opened the way for continued nuclear cooperation with Teheran."The main points in the statement by the Chairman of the IAEA Board of Governors fully coincided with the position of the Russian delegation," the spokesman, Nikolai Shingarev, told the Itar-Tass news agency. "IAEA's balanced stand together with Iran's willingness to make its nuclear programme open and transparent to IAEA are creating fresh opportunities for cooperation between Russia and Iran in the field of nuclear energy."

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