Iran to be the talking point during Hillary Clinton’s Russia visit
The tension that has been mounting between United States and Russia over Iran is going to be the talking point as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Moscow on Thursday.
The Obama administration is looking to finalize the arms-control pact which has been pending for a long time. However, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is in no mood to take things lying down and said that Iran’s nuclear plant is going to be operational from this summer. This has definitely soured the relation between US and Russia.
Meanwhile, in a news conference alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, the Secretary of State pointed out that helping Iran with the plant, at Bushehr, is not right because Iran has not cooperated and met the international demands on its nuclear program. Clinton wants Russia to show greater cooperation as US seeks tougher sanctions from the United Nations against Iran. This move will also help in its diplomacy with China.
However, the Russian Foreign Minister has stated that Russia is helping Iran in compliance with the I.A.E.A’s norms, asserting that the work going on in Bushehr has been taken ahead after Iran agreed to abide by the rules of I.A.E.A.
It is a fact that in recent times Russia has applied a hard line approach towards Tehran. The reason being the Iranian government had once not agreed to a proposal to provide light enriched uranium to Russia and France which had to be enriched to a higher level so that medical isotopes can be produced in Tehran.
Meanwhile, China has decided to follow a wait and watch approach. It has used diplomacy as a tool. This has made United States somewhat left out as it tries to impose additional sanctions on Tehran. That requires international support for a resolution to be passed in the United Nations Security Council. Russia or China, both are member of the UN Security Council and can veto any such move by the United States.
However, talking about the arms control pact, Mr. Lavrov was confident that a deal would be signed by this month’s end. This deal would mean deep impact on the nuclear arsenal of both countries. President Obama is going to meet his Russian counterpart at an international summit on nuclear nonproliferation in Washington next month.
“Certainly this is a moment when we’ve made a lot of progress, and we certainly hope to make more, and the secretary’s involvement is extremely important,” the under secretary of state for political affairs, William J. Burns, told reporters traveling on Mrs. Clinton’s plane. “We want to move ahead to finish the agreement,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Mrs. Clinton’s itinerary included a meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as well. Leaders from the European Union and United Nations are also going to meet the Secretary of State regarding the conflict between United States and Israel over the settlement of Jews in and around Jerusalem.
It was widely believed that the arms deal would be complete by the end of last year. But, months of negotiations and administrative intricacies made the process even more arduous. So, President Obama decided to take it in his own hands and called up his counterpart President Medvedev in the last three weeks. In these talks, President Obama was given several fresh hindrances by the Russian president, which included revising the American plan on missile-defense system, which was believed to be resolved.
“Every time you think you’re done, new issues pop up in Geneva, and what seemed like trivia become major political issues,” said a senior administrative official in the Obama Administration, on condition of anonymity. Though, talks were being held once again but there differences still cropped up on the transparency of the missile-defense system. It didn’t go down too well with Russia that Romania can host part of the system, and asked for it to be revoked. White House is hoping that Mrs. Clinton manages to convince the Russian president and a concrete plan is initiated.
“Otherwise, it does not get done,” the official said. “Otherwise, it drags on like the last Start Treaty, which I think took nine years.”
The agreement is part of the diplomacy put in place by President Obama where-in he trying to forge a new relationship with Russia.
