'In Iran, Putin Warns Against Military ActionBy Nazila Fathi
The New York Times
Tehran - President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told a summit of five Caspian Sea nations in Iran today that any use of military force in the Caspian region was unacceptable and in a declaration the countries agreed that none of them would allow their territories to be used as a base for launching military strikes against any of the others.
"We should not even think of making use of force in this region," Mr. Putin said. "We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state," he added.
Mr. Putin's comments and the declaration come at a time when France and the United States have refused to rule out military action to halt Iran's nuclear program, which they believe is focused on nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes.
The comments were also a strong message that Russia objects to any American military presence in other Caspian Sea states.
Mr. Putin arrived in Tehran today for strategic meetings with Iran and the leaders from three other nearby Caspian Sea nations that have rich oil and gas resources, promising to use dialogue to try to resolve the international debate over Iran's nuclear program.
He was the first Kremlin leader to travel to Iran since 1943, when Stalin attended a wartime summit meeting with Churchill and Roosevelt. In the declaration, the nations acknowledged the rights of all signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Reuters reported.
Russia has obstructed a third set of sanctions against Iran at the United Nations that are intended to persuade the country to stop enrichment activities, which Western nations fear could lead to the development of nuclear weapons. Iran insists it wants to use its nuclear program for conventional purposes only.
Mr. Putin, who stresses the need for further dialogue and working within the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear monitoring agency based in Vienna, was scheduled to meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad twice today.
The main reason for the trip is ostensibly the meeting in Tehran of nations that border the Caspian Sea, including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. They discussed the division of the Caspian Sea resources, particularly oil, among the five coastline states.
With world oil prices at about $86 a barrel, the legal status and ownership of the sea's vast oil and gas deposits have become a contentious issues.'
"We should not even think of making use of force in this region," Mr. Putin said. "We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state," he added.
Mr. Putin's comments and the declaration come at a time when France and the United States have refused to rule out military action to halt Iran's nuclear program, which they believe is focused on nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes.
The comments were also a strong message that Russia objects to any American military presence in other Caspian Sea states.
Mr. Putin arrived in Tehran today for strategic meetings with Iran and the leaders from three other nearby Caspian Sea nations that have rich oil and gas resources, promising to use dialogue to try to resolve the international debate over Iran's nuclear program.
He was the first Kremlin leader to travel to Iran since 1943, when Stalin attended a wartime summit meeting with Churchill and Roosevelt. In the declaration, the nations acknowledged the rights of all signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Reuters reported.
Russia has obstructed a third set of sanctions against Iran at the United Nations that are intended to persuade the country to stop enrichment activities, which Western nations fear could lead to the development of nuclear weapons. Iran insists it wants to use its nuclear program for conventional purposes only.
Mr. Putin, who stresses the need for further dialogue and working within the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear monitoring agency based in Vienna, was scheduled to meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad twice today.
The main reason for the trip is ostensibly the meeting in Tehran of nations that border the Caspian Sea, including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. They discussed the division of the Caspian Sea resources, particularly oil, among the five coastline states.
With world oil prices at about $86 a barrel, the legal status and ownership of the sea's vast oil and gas deposits have become a contentious issues.'
Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101607A.shtml
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