[ti:Russia, Iran and the Missile Defense Issue]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:IN THE NEWS]
[by:www.chinavoa.com]
[00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
[00:08.66]The next international talks
[00:11.44]on Iran's nuclear program
[00:13.48]take place this month in Moscow.
[00:16.68]The talks come as Russia continues
[00:19.62]to oppose missile-defense plans designed
[00:23.85]to answer a possible nuclear threat from Iran.
[00:28.27]The United States and the European Union
[00:31.97]believe that a goal of Iran's
[00:34.91]uranium enrichment program
[00:37.45]is to possess nuclear weapons.
[00:40.89]The Iranian government says it only wants
[00:44.68]to use its enriched uranium
[00:47.57]for peaceful purposes,
[00:49.90]such as producing electricity.
[00:52.39]Talks between Iran and six world powers
[00:57.23]have gone on for years.
[00:59.52]The six countries are the United States,
[01:02.81]Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
[01:07.80]The latest two-day meeting took place
[01:11.29]in Baghdad last month.
[01:13.59]There was very little progress.
[01:16.33]Negotiators agreed to meet in Moscow
[01:20.01]in the middle of June.
[01:21.86]The common thinking is
[01:24.21]that Russian economic interests in Iran
[01:27.69]have led Russia to be a strong supporter of Iran.
[01:32.12]But many experts say
[01:34.51]Russia has taken a stronger position on Iran
[01:38.74]during the past few years.
[01:41.13]Robert Legvold of Columbia University says
[01:44.77]one reason was what American officials
[01:47.86]have called the reset in relations with Russia.
[01:52.24]Mr. Legvold says that does not mean
[01:55.47]there are no disagreements
[01:57.37]between the United States and Russia over Iran.
[02:00.81]He says the possibility of some kind of military attack
[02:05.74]on Iran makes the Russians nervous.
[02:09.08]ROBERT LEGVOLD: "And the Russians are very antsy
[02:11.27]about the idea of a military option,
[02:13.51]whether it's Israel that executes it
[02:15.60]or whether it is some kind of a U.S. option,
[02:18.25]or the U.S. with Israel together.
[02:20.14]They also continue to push much harder
[02:22.87]on the diplomatic option
[02:25.03]rather than further tightening of sanctions."
[02:28.83]But Russia has voted in the past
[02:31.66]for economic sanctions against Iran in the United Nations.
[02:36.44]And Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus
[02:39.63]at Princeton University and New York University,
[02:43.21]says that is not all Russia has done.
[02:46.66]STEPHEN COHEN: "Russia cancelled a deal
[02:48.85]it had with the Iranian government
[02:50.54]to supply it with anti-aircraft missiles,
[02:55.41]the kind of anti-aircraft missiles
[02:58.29]that Iran would need to defend itself if it
[03:01.17]was attacked by Israel or the United States,
[03:03.27]which remains, by the way,
[03:04.67]on at least the theoretical agenda.
[03:06.98]These were enormous concessions by Moscow."
[03:09.46]Experts say one area where Russia
[03:12.90]will not compromise is missile defense.
[03:15.98]This American-led idea is tied
[03:19.57]to the possible nuclear threat from Iran.
[03:22.80]The Obama administration has proposed deployment
[03:27.13]of anti-missile interceptors on navy ships at sea.
[03:32.17]There also would be land-based versions
[03:36.05]of these anti-missile missiles.
[03:38.44]Some would be sent to former Warsaw Pact countries
[03:42.84]in Eastern Europe.
[03:44.88]Russia has always opposed American plans
[03:49.16]for a missile defense system in Europe.
[03:52.20]Russian officials see it as aimed against Russia.
[03:56.33]Robert Legvold at Columbia University says
[04:00.61]Russia's main objection is tied
[04:03.85]to the last part of the missile defense plan.
[04:07.65]That part, known as Phase Four,
[04:10.64]is set for deployment in twenty-twenty.
[04:13.94]ROBERT LEGVOLD: "The problem with Phase Four
[04:15.98]-- and we begin moving that way with Phase Three
[04:18.79]-- is that that is an intercontinental
[04:20.68]ballistic missile system designed
[04:22.52]to defend the entire continent,
[04:24.61]not merely what's called theater systems,
[04:27.89]which is what the shorter-range systems are.
[04:30.63]And those, theoretically,
[04:33.37]depending on where they are deployed,
[04:35.46]could be something of a threat
[04:37.65]to the Russian nuclear deterrent."
[04:40.44]NATO leaders restated their support
[04:43.82]for the missile defense plan
[04:46.06]when they met last month in Chicago.
[04:48.95]And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
[04:54.52]I'm Steve Ember.