— Photo: AP
BUILDING CONSENSUS: Caspian Sea coastal countries’ Presidents (from right) Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Kazakhstan’s Nursulan Nazarbayev, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliev in Tehran on Tuesday.
TEHRAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday issued a veiled warning
Tuesday against an attack on Iran and suggested that Moscow and
Tehran should have a virtual veto on Western plans for pipelines
from the oil and gas-rich Caspian Sea region.
The visit beefed up Russian-Iranian efforts to keep out U.S.
influence in the area. However, Putin refused to set a date for
completing Iran's first nuclear reactor, in a bid to avoid an
outright show of support for Iran's nuclear program, which
Washington says is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
Putin met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a summit
of leaders from nations surrounding the Caspian Sea.
Divvying up territory in and around the inland sea _ believed to
contain the world's third-largest energy reserves _ has been a
divisive issue among the littoral nations. But Putin used the
occasion to bolster ties with Iran, including with nods to Iran's
national pride _ describing it as a ``world power'' and referring to
the might of the Persian empire.
Putin strongly warned outside powers against use of force in the
region, a clear reference to the United States, which many in Iran
fear will attack over the nuclear issue.
``We are saying that no (Caspian) nations should offer their
territory to outside powers for aggression or any military action
against any of the Caspian states,'' Putin said.
The summit participants later signed a declaration which carried
a similar statement _ an apparent reflection of Tehran's fears that
the United States could use Azerbaijan's territory as a staging
ground for strikes against Iran.
Putin has warned against military action against Iran in the
past, but reiterating them in Tehran gave them greater resonance _
particularly at a summit for a region where Moscow has deeply
resented U.S. attempts at greater influence. Russia has a monopoly
on pipeline routes for oil and gas from Central Europe and has
rankled at U.S. military cooperation with Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and
Turkmenistan.
In Iran's confrontation with the West over its nuclear program,
Russia has tread a fine line, warning against heavy pressure on Iran
and protecting it _ for the time being _ from a third round of U.N.
sanctions, while also urging Tehran to heed demands it halt uranium
enrichment.
Putin's careful stance on completing the Russian-built Bushehr
nuclear plant suggested that Russia is seeking to preserve solid
ties with Iran without angering the West.
``Russia is trying to sit in two chairs at the same time,''
Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine,
told The Associated Press. A pledge to quickly complete the plant
would send a ``strong signal to the West that Russia is with Iran.''
Putin showed he wouldn't be pressed into speeding up completion
of the $1 billion contract to build Bushehr.
``I only gave promises to my mom when I was a small boy,'' he
snapped when Iranian reporters prodded him to promise a quick
launch.
At the same time, Putin _ on the first trip to Iran by a Kremlin
leader since Josef Stalin visited in 1943 for talks with Winston
Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt on World War II _ said that
Moscow wouldn't back down on its obligation to finish the plant.
``Russia has clearly stated that it's going to complete this work,''
Putin said. ``We are not renouncing this obligation.''
Russia has warned that the plant would not be launched this fall
as planned because Iran was slow in making payments. Iranian
officials have angrily denied any payment arrears and accused the
Kremlin of caving in to Western pressure.
Moscow also has ignored Iranian demands to ship fuel for the
plant, saying it would be delivered only six months before the
Bushehr plant goes on line. The launch date has been delayed
indefinitely amid the payment dispute. Putin said the two sides were
negotiating on revisions to the Bushehr contract, and once agreed a
decision on fuel can be made.
The Caspian nations offered a degree of support for Iran's
nuclear program, stressing in their declaration that any country
that is signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty can ``carry
out research and can use nuclear energy for peaceful means without
discrimination.''
Putin underlined his disagreements with Washington on Iran last
week, saying he saw no ``objective data'' to prove claims that
Tehran is trying to construct nuclear weapons.
The Caspian Sea neighbors summit failed to reach an agreement on
how to divide the sea's vast energy resources, but Putin and
Ahmadinejad strongly warned outside powers to stay away from the
region.
``All issues related to the Caspian should be settled exclusively
by littoral nations,'' Ahmadinejad said.
Moscow has strongly opposed U.S.-backed efforts to build
pipelines to deliver Central Asian and Caspian hydrocarbons to the
West bypassing Russia, through which all pipelines from the area
currently flow. Russia has pushed for new pipelines to cross its
territory as well.
Putin underlined that all pipeline projects should get approval
by all five nations to take effect.
``Projects which may inflict a serious damage to the Caspian
environment can't be and mustn't be implemented without a
preliminary discussion by the Caspian Five and making a consensus
decision in the interests of our common sea,'' Putin said.
The legal status of the Caspian has been in limbo since the 1991
Soviet collapse, leading to tension and conflicting claims to seabed
oil deposits.
AP
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