Russia Says Iranian Nuclear Deadlock Risks Military Strike
Source: Businessweek
The deadlock in talks on Iran’s disputed nuclear program is increasing the risk of a military strike on the Persian Gulf country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview.
“The alternative to a diplomatic resolution is growing escalation and rising risks that something irreparable, a military action, will take place,” Ryabkov, Russia’s top negotiator on Iran, said in Moscow today.
Russia opposes Israel’s call to set explicit “red lines” limiting Iran’s enrichment of uranium that would justify military action if crossed, according to Ryabkov. Russia is proposing a new meeting next month between Iran and six world powers seeking to negotiate a deal allaying concerns that Iran is aiming to produce nuclear weapons, the diplomat said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday that the Islamic Republic had already passed the first stage toward nuclear weaponization and “by next spring, at most next summer” will be weeks or months away from making its first bomb. That was the Israeli leader’s most specific timing for a crisis point. In recent months, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that Israel may feel compelled to strike Iran’s enrichment facilities as early as this fall.
Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-28/russia-says-iranian-nuclear-deadlock-risks-military-strike
Ryabkov is advising against any use of force without "sanction of the (UN) Security Council."
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