{"id":113501,"date":"2009-12-28T13:54:57","date_gmt":"2009-12-28T18:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nw0.eu\/2009\/12\/28\/russia-no-proof-of-military-n-plans-in-iran.html"},"modified":"2009-12-28T13:54:57","modified_gmt":"2009-12-28T18:54:57","slug":"russia-no-proof-of-military-n-plans-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/113501","title":{"rendered":"Russia: No proof of military N-plans in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Press TV <\/a>
\nSaturday, Dec 26th, 2009<\/span><\/p>\n

As Western powers batten down the hatches and prepare
\nsanctions against Tehran, a senior Russian official says there still is
\nno proof of an Iranian nuclear weapons program.<\/p>\n

In remarks published on Friday, deputy Russian foreign minister
\nAlexander Saltanov reiterated that Moscow is not convinced that Iran
\nseeks to weoponize its nuclear program, and moreover he has not been
\nshown any corroborative evidence confirming that the country has any
\nsuch plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia has no concrete information that Iran is planning to
\nconstruct a weapon. It may be more like Japan, which has nuclear
\nreadiness but does not have a bomb,\u201d Primakov told The Jerusalem
\nPost.<\/p>\n

In order to pressure Iran into halting its nuclear work, Washington
\nand a number of European countries have vowed to push for new UN
\nsanctions early next year.<\/p>\n

But the calls for renewed pressure were once again snubbed by China and Russia.<\/p>\n

Saltanov said while \u201cIran has a positive potential\u201d to
\ncooperate with the West on its nuclear case, it is most evident that a
\nmilitary solution against the Tehran government would only make matters
\nworse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Israel attacks Iran it will cause great instability and
\nwill only postpone the Iranian program, not end it,\u201d noted the
\nRussian official.<\/p>\n

Israel routinely threatens to bomb Iran\u2019s enrichment sites,
\narguing that the country\u2019s nuclear work is a mortal threat to Tel
\nAviv, which ironically is reported to have the Middle East\u2019s sole
\nnuclear arsenal and 200 nuclear warheads at its disposal.<\/p>\n

This is while Iran, unlike Tel Aviv, is a signatory of the nuclear
\nNon-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has opened its nuclear facilities to
\nroutine inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog.<\/p>\n

In response to Israeli war threats, Tehran warns that if Tel Aviv
\nsteps out of line, it will close the strategic Strait of Hormuz to
\nmaritime traffic, including the 15 or so supertankers that sail through
\non a daily basis to deliver the world\u2019s oil supplies.<\/p>\n

A recent report by the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) has
\nconfirmed that if the United States or Israel decide to bomb
\nTehran\u2019s nuclear sites, Iran\u2019s naval modernization and
\nmaritime capabilities have reached a point where it can shut down the
\nstrategic Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the importance of the Strait, disrupting traffic flow
\nor even threatening to do so may be an effective tool for Iran,\u201d
\nsaid the intelligence report, which was revealed by Joseph
\nFarah\u2019s G2 Bulletin in November.<\/p>\n

It notes that while Iran\u2019s ability to shut down the Strait of
\nHormuz may be transitory, the impact would undoubtedly have
\nfar-reaching consequences for the already-fragile world economy.<\/p>\n

\u201c[World economies would suffer] a serious economic impact from
\na sustain closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to greatly reduced
\nsupplies of crude oil, petroleum supplies and (liquefied natural
\ngas),\u201d ONI said.<\/p>\n

On the same note, the report adds that not only has Tehran acquired
\n\u201cincreasingly sophisticated systems\u201d from China and Russia,
\nbut the \u201cmodernization\u201d of the Iranian navy is to an extent
\nthat would help the government carry out such a closure if need be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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