U.S. officials have said the United States plans to renew efforts to persuade Russia to decrease its nuclear and missile cooperation with Iran (see GSN, Dec. 3), Reuters reported Monday.  If Russia refuses to limit its cooperation with Iran, the United States would impose sanctions under U.S. law, a senior U.S. official said, noting that the United States imposed sanctions on China in September for allegedly providing missile technology to Pakistan (see GSN, Dec. 3).

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton plans to visit Moscow this week for high-level talks.  U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to visit Russia on Dec. 9.  The talks are expected to focus on U.S. intentions to develop a missile defense system and U.S. and Russian plans to reduce nuclear stockpiles (see GSN, Nov. 14).  Russian-Iranian cooperation is also expected to be a key issue along with Russian nuclear assistance to India. One senior U.S. official said the United States would ask Russia to help prevent other sources, such as China and North Korea, from sharing nuclear technology with Iran.

Russia is assisting the construction of a nuclear power reactor at Bushehr, Iran.  The facility would be subject to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, but critics have charged that the cooperation aids Iran’s nuclear weapons program (Reuters/Yahoo.com, Dec. 3).

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