Russia to push for talks on Iran nuclear program in Istanbul - Lavrov RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED January 14, 2011 Russia will push for talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program at the upcoming meeting of the Iran Six in Istanbul on January 21-22, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. "We are confident that the agenda of the meeting must be all-encompassing. Of course, it should include issues to help 'fill in the blanks' over Iran's nuclear program and cooperation with the IAEA will be necessary for that," Lavrov said. The minister emphasized that possible application of force would just aggravate the problem and only peace talks could hit home. "No issue can be settled using a heavy-handed method. Even after using force, people have to come to the negotiations table and hold talks." However, on Wednesday Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran would not discuss its nuclear program in Istanbul. "We will absolutely not recognize the negotiation if the other side wants to negotiate on the issue of the [Iranian] nuclear dossier," Salehi said. The West, led by the United States, suspects Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, but the Islamic Republic, under a few sets of international sanctions already, insists it needs nuclear power only for civilian purposes. The Iran Six, which comprises Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, has been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and to alleviate concerns about its nuclear ambitions. Other news: Russia ready to finance Egypt first nuclear plant Russia confirmed its participation in a tender to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant and said it was willing to help finance the project. ARMZ acquires Australian uranium producer in $1.2 bln deal ARMZ will pay eight Australian dollars per share, which represents a 15.5 percent premium on the average market price for 20 trading days. Russia to start building Turkish NPP in 2013 Russia will start building Turkey's first NPP estimated at $20 billion in 2013, Russian ambassador to Ankara Vladimir Ivanovsky said. |
Hero of the day Obama nuclear summit: A minor success Further proof of this fact was provided by Obama Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington on April 12-13. However, this goal is unlikely to be achieved in four years. INTERVIEW
Christophe Behar OPINION
Vladimir Rychin |