Putin hopes Russia-Iran contact will reassure West

reuters

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said today he hoped a visit by Russia’s Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov to Tehran this month would help Iran reassure the West that it does not seek nuclear weapons.

“We hope that (Ivanov’s) visit to Iran will help us align our positions and will help convince our Iranian partners to take decisions that would improve the situation in a healthy way...and remove all suspicions in the international community about Iran’s alleged plans to create nuclear weapons,” Putin said during an annual news conference.

Western powers fear Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme will be used for atomic bombs and the UN Security Council passed a resolution in December imposing limited sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend the programme.

Iran says it has a right to develop its civilian nuclear sector and last month said it was pressing ahead with a plan to install 3 000 atomic centrifuges. Russia is building Iran’s first nuclear power plant in Bushehr.

Last month, Russia angered the US by delivering new anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran and said it would consider more requests from Tehran for defensive weapons.