Iran's Ambassador to Moscow Gholamreza Ansari, left, and Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Larijani, right, before the 3rd round of Russia-Iran talks devoted to Moscow's proposal for joint uranium enrichment on Russian territory. The talks took place in Golden Ring hotel in Moscow.
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
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Vladimir Putin Invited to Iran
// Iran Security Council Secretary will bring the invitation to Russian president
Moscow visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was postponed in the very last moment yesterday. Instead, a far more influential politician is arriving to Moscow tomorrow – Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Security Council. Discussion of the “Iranian resolution”, bearing international sanctions against Tehran, began in New York. So, Iran wants to secure Russia’s support in the UN Security Council. Larijani carries to Moscow an invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Tehran before the end of 2006.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday spoke of the upcoming negotiations with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. However, it became known in the evening that Mottaki is not coming to Moscow. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visit is not cancelled but is postponed.
One of the reasons for it might be the lack of agreement on the schedule of Moscow talks. Tehran insisted on giving Mottaki a private meeting with President Putin. Tehran hoped the reception at the highest level would reinforce Iran’s positions in connection to the discussion of the “Iranian resolution” which began in New York. However, Putin avoided the meeting by asking Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to carry out the talks. Russian president must have decided to avoid the too-obvious gesture of support for Tehran.
Thus, Iranian President Ahmadinejad personally ordered to cancel Mottaki’s visit to Moscow. Instead, Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Security Council, is arriving to Moscow on Friday. He is to meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. To make the visit even more important, Larijani will bring Ahmadinejad’s message for Vladimir Putin.
Iranian leader is now obsessed with the idea that Russian president should definitely visit Tehran, and before the end of 2006. Tehran believes that only the private meeting between Ahmadinejad and Putin will bring good results in bilateral relations and will allow to carry out successful united (that is, anti-US) policy in the world.
Iran’s current anxiety is quite explicable. This week, five permanent UN Security Council members – Russia, the U.S., China, Great Britain, and France, plus Germany – began discussing the draft resolution on Iran. The first variant offered by the European three seemed too strict to Moscow. Thus, Russian delegation introduced a number of softening amendments, which received China’s support.
Moscow’s actions greatly irritated Washington. Head of US delegation to the UN John Bolton accused Russia of diverging from the previously reached agreements on Iran. Permanent Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin denied these accusations. He said that Russia’s draft completely corresponds to the agreements.
Nevertheless, Tehran wants to be sure that Moscow will stand for its interests till the end. Iran hopes Moscow will not allow to include the mentioning of Chapter VII of UN charter into the resolution’s text. The chapter allows resorting to military force in the case of necessity. Iran also fears that US Republican administration, upset about loosing the midterm elections to the Congress, will resort to military strike against Iran even on its own.
Alexander Reutov
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 09, 2006
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