Russia: No proof of military N-plans in Iran

Press TV
Saturday, Dec 26th, 2009

As Western powers batten down the hatches and prepare
sanctions against Tehran, a senior Russian official says there still is
no proof of an Iranian nuclear weapons program.

In remarks published on Friday, deputy Russian foreign minister
Alexander Saltanov reiterated that Moscow is not convinced that Iran
seeks to weoponize its nuclear program, and moreover he has not been
shown any corroborative evidence confirming that the country has any
such plans.

“Russia has no concrete information that Iran is planning to
construct a weapon. It may be more like Japan, which has nuclear
readiness but does not have a bomb,” Primakov told The Jerusalem
Post.

In order to pressure Iran into halting its nuclear work, Washington
and a number of European countries have vowed to push for new UN
sanctions early next year.

But the calls for renewed pressure were once again snubbed by China and Russia.

Saltanov said while “Iran has a positive potential” to
cooperate with the West on its nuclear case, it is most evident that a
military solution against the Tehran government would only make matters
worse.

“If Israel attacks Iran it will cause great instability and
will only postpone the Iranian program, not end it,” noted the
Russian official.

Israel routinely threatens to bomb Iran’s enrichment sites,
arguing that the country’s nuclear work is a mortal threat to Tel
Aviv, which ironically is reported to have the Middle East’s sole
nuclear arsenal and 200 nuclear warheads at its disposal.

This is while Iran, unlike Tel Aviv, is a signatory of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has opened its nuclear facilities to
routine inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog.

In response to Israeli war threats, Tehran warns that if Tel Aviv
steps out of line, it will close the strategic Strait of Hormuz to
maritime traffic, including the 15 or so supertankers that sail through
on a daily basis to deliver the world’s oil supplies.

A recent report by the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) has
confirmed that if the United States or Israel decide to bomb
Tehran’s nuclear sites, Iran’s naval modernization and
maritime capabilities have reached a point where it can shut down the
strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“Given the importance of the Strait, disrupting traffic flow
or even threatening to do so may be an effective tool for Iran,”
said the intelligence report, which was revealed by Joseph
Farah’s G2 Bulletin in November.

It notes that while Iran’s ability to shut down the Strait of
Hormuz may be transitory, the impact would undoubtedly have
far-reaching consequences for the already-fragile world economy.

“[World economies would suffer] a serious economic impact from
a sustain closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to greatly reduced
supplies of crude oil, petroleum supplies and (liquefied natural
gas),” ONI said.

On the same note, the report adds that not only has Tehran acquired
“increasingly sophisticated systems” from China and Russia,
but the “modernization” of the Iranian navy is to an extent
that would help the government carry out such a closure if need be.