Russia: Sanctions against Iran counterproductive; Ali Larijani: UN resolution as the outdated tactics of carrot and stick
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    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said unilateral sanctions against Iran would be ‘counterproductive’ in efforts to force Tehran to suspend its nuclear fuel work. He also added that Russia is of the view that the politics of adopting unilateral and anti-Iranian sanctions espoused by some countries is counterproductive.’ He articulated his view when he met with Howard Berman, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the US House of Representatives. The US and its European allies had pushed for new, tougher sanctions against Iran but ran into resistance from Russia. The UN Security Council has already slapped three rounds of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment1.

    Ali Larijani, Iran's parliamentary speaker and former chief negotiator stated that Iran wants to continue talks on its nuclear program, if Western countries are willing to return to the negotiating table. He said the country is prepared to negotiate but cannot accept ‘conditions that were impossible to achieve.’ The US, Britain and France want it to halt its uranium enrichment program before allowing talks to resume. A UN Security Council resolution last month reaffirmed previous sanctions but stopped short of imposing new ones because of resistance from China and Russia. He described the latest UN resolution as ‘the outdated tactics of carrot and stick, and it doesn't produce a result.’ His remarks came as Iran announced that 700 Russian-trained engineers are about to begin work at its first nuclear power plant, in the southern port of Bushehr2.

    Meanwhile, Iran and India agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on housing development. Iran’s Housing Minister Mohammad Saeedikia was in New Delhi to chair the second meeting of the Bureau of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD) held on October 13, 2008. He said ‘we discussed ways of constructing one million houses per year in India and Iran.’ He also expressed hope that the meeting will pave the way for cooperation with other countries3.

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