Originally published Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 2:54 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Russia's Medvedev: Sanctions against Iran possible
Russia could back sanctions against Iran if it fails to take a constructive stance in international talks over its nuclear program, President Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks released Saturday.
Associated Press Writer
Russia could back sanctions against Iran if it fails to take a constructive stance in international talks over its nuclear program, President Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks released Saturday.
The statement echoed earlier comments by Medvedev, but contrasted sharply with the words of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has warned that the threat of sanctions could thwart talks with Iran.
Medvedev said in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that it would be better to avoid sanctions, but they can't be excluded if there is no progress in the talks. His comments were released by the Kremlin.
"If the Iranian leadership takes a less constructive stance, everything is theoretically possible," Medvedev said, adding that he discussed the issue with President Barack Obama when they met in New York in September. Medvedev said then that sanctions are sometimes inevitable.
"I wouldn't like to see all that ending in the introduction of international sanctions, as sanctions usually is a step in a very difficult and dangerous direction," Medvedev told Der Spiegel. "But if there is no movement forward, no one is excluding such a scenario."
Medvedev said that Iran can implement what it claims to be a peaceful atomic energy program under international supervision. "But it must abide by the existing rules and not try to hide some facilities," he added.
Russia has walked a fine line on Iran for years. It is one of the six powers leading efforts to ensure Iran does not develop an atomic bomb. But it has close ties with Iran, a regional power close to Russia's vulnerable southern flank, and it is building the country's first nuclear power plant.
A UN-brokered plan requires Iran to send 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium - around 70 percent of its stockpile - to Russia in one batch by the end of the year in order to ease international concerns the material would be used for a bomb.
Senior Iranian lawmakers on Saturday rejected any possibility of Tehran shipping uranium abroad for further enrichment, intensifying pressures on the government to reject the U.N.-backed plan altogether.
E-mail article
Print view
Share
A Bing deal for Microsoft, News Corp.?
Amazon, Wal-Mart escalate Web price war
8 charged in probe of terrorism-recruiting network in U.S.
Hate crimes against gays, religious groups up, FBI says
SC legislators begin Sanford impeachment hearings
More Nation & World headlines...
![]()
PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
Bedroom set - $850
Christmas Centerpiece - $12
Christmas Swags - $15
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
events for Tuesday, Nov. 24
- Furnishments Thanksgiving Weekend Sale
- Shoe Sale at Urban Kids Play
- Holiday Sale at Pink Ginger
- Dolce Vita Pre-Thanksgiving Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Jerry Brewer | Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Husky Football Blog | Ranking the Pac
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
410 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
216 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
160 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
107 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
106 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
86 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
79 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
76 - Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
58
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Children in home day care watching hours of TV, study says
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit

