Russia Continues to Oppose Sanctions against Iran

Russian officials continue to maintain their position with regard to the possibility of economically and technologically sanctioning Iran for the fact that the Tehran administration failed in positively responding at the six-nation package of nuclear incentives, in exchange for halting the nuclear program the West believes is intended for the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction.

Igor Shuvalov, one of the most important aides to Russian president Vladimir Putin, refrained from disclosing how Russia would vote in the Security Council, should any sanctions be initiated against Iran, yet he did uphold Russia' drive against such an idea and the pursuing of a softer approach, given that sanctions could seriously inflame Iran.

"We are for using a stick [against Iran] but we do not want to later get hit on the head by that same stick, or that it should hit any of our partners on the head. At the moment we have understood that introducing sanctions now or resorting to a military operation could lead to the ... consolidation of the population around the current leadership", he highlighted. However, he did not want to disregard the possibility of coming to terms with sanctions against the Islamic republic but these should be approached by the international community with "particular caution and responsibility" and only when all the other options failed.

In addition to this, Russian diplomats' lack of enthusiasm with regard to adopting sanctions against Iran is also shared by officials in the European Union, because many still believe negotiations are the right path to achieving an agreement with Iran. As far as nuclear matters are concerned, Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, announced that he is due to meet Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani in Vienna on Wednesday, in order to discuss all major possibilities through which Iran could actually accept the incentives.

In the meantime, US Ambassador to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, Gregory Schulte, stated on Tuesday: "That's our judgment. Now, there's not 100 per cent certainty there. We've been wrong in the past with our judgments. Sanctions are not the end of diplomacy. [But] ... to be successful, diplomacy must now be backed up by sanctions, applied in a graduated fashion and targeting Iran's weapons program and those who guide it", an approach which has been recently highlighted by US president George Bush as well. "The world's free nations will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon", he outlined.