This article is from the 13th, found it in the stash of related articles in Blairs article.


Doesn't this add an interesting twist on the situation in more ways than one...



[link to news.scotsman.com]

Russia and China join condemnation of Iran
PARISA HAFEZI
IN TEHRAN

IRAN was condemned yesterday by the world's leading powers, including Russia and China, for advancing its atomic programme in defiance of the United Nations.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, declared on Tuesday that his country had produced its first batch of enriched uranium and would press ahead with industrial-scale enrichment.

That kept Tehran on a collision course with the UN and with western countries who fear Iran is seeking atomic arms, not just fuel for power stations as it insists.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said the UN Security Council, which last month told Tehran to halt all enrichment work, should respond with unspecified "strong steps" to maintain the credibility of the international community.

Asked if the Security Council might impose sanctions on Iran, a White House spokesman said: "That's a possibility ... that's one option that's available."

Russia and China, who have veto rights at the Security Council, have hitherto opposed sanctions.

Yesterday, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, also warned the use of force was no answer to the stand-off over Iran. "If such plans exist, they will not be able to solve this problem," he said. "On the contrary, they could create a dangerous explosive blaze in the Middle East, where there are already enough blazes."

George Bush, the US president, has dismissed media reports of plans for strikes on Iran as "wild speculation".

Those who condemned Iran's announcement included China's ambassador to the UN, who said Tehran's enrichment move was "not in line with what is required of them by the international community".

Russia's foreign ministry urged Iran to stop all enrichment work, while Britain, France and Germany, the EU states behind last year's deal to suspend Iran's enrichment work, were also critical.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, urged all parties to return to talks and "cool down the rhetoric".

But a senior Iranian official ruled out any retreat. "Iran's nuclear activities are like a waterfall which has begun to flow. It cannot be stopped," he said.

In Tehran, Iranians celebrated the news their country had mastered nuclear technology. Volunteer Islamic militia set up celebration tents at roadsides, handing out sugary cakes and ladling out orange squash to passers-by. One militiaman shouted "We are so happy and proud of our young nuclear scientists."

Elsewhere, schoolchildren wearing bibs embossed with "nuclear power is our irrevocable right" chanted slogans and waved the national flag.

Mohamed El Baradei, the head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, is due to visit Iran today to seek Tehran's co-operation with the Security Council.