U.S. and Russian officials failed to agree on Russian military assistance to Iran after two days of meetings ended in Moscow yesterday, said U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton (see GSN, Jan. 31).

Disagreements over Iran could stall efforts to reach an agreement on nuclear reductions and other strategic issues by May, when U.S. and Russian Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Russia, the Washington Post reported (see related GSN story, today).

The United States has called on Russia to end transfers of nuclear and missile technology to Iran, but Russia has said it is providing assistance only for civilian projects (see GSN, Feb. 6).

Preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue states is a critical issue for the United States, according to the Post.

“For us, this is a matter of fundamental importance in shaping of Russian policy to be consistent with that of the other major powers that have access to nuclear and ballistic missile technology to prevent its spread to countries like Iran,” Bolton said (Sharon LaFraniere, Washington Post, Feb. 20).

“How could any Russian citizen see any benefit whatsoever from a nuclear-equipped, ballistic-missile-ready Iran?” Bolton said (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, Feb. 20).

Russia Considers Building Third Reactor in Iran

Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are considering constructing a new nuclear reactor in Iran, said Viktor Kozlov, director general of Atomstroyeksport, which is currently building a reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power station in Iran (see GSN, Feb. 15).

Iran has said it wants three reactors, according to the Russian Interfax news agency.

Russia has submitted a feasibility study to Iran with plans for building reactors and suggestions for their locations, Kozlov said (Moscow Interfax, Feb. 18 in FBIS-SOV, Feb. 19).

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