Iran and Russia Exchange Acerbic Barbs on Sanctions

MOSCOW — Russia and Iran publicly traded barbs on Wednesday, showing strains in their longstanding alliance because of Moscow's support for a new set of American-backed sanctions over the Iranian nuclear program.



During a televised speech in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at his Russian counterparts, who last week agreed, along with the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, on the draft language for the proposed new sanctions, which would punish Iranian financial institutions and countries that offer Iran nuclear-related technology.



"We do not like to see our neighbor supporting those who have shown animosity to us for 30 years," Mr. Ahmadinejad said in the speech broadcast from the southern city of Kerman. "This is not acceptable for the Iranian nation. I hope they will pay attention and take corrective action."



"If I were in the place of Russian officials, I would adopt a more careful stance," he said.



The comments came a day after Iran's ambassador to Moscow said he hoped Russia would dissuade the other Council members from imposing sanctions, and warned that Russia risked manipulation by the United States.



"Russia should not think that short-term cooperation with the United States is in its interest," said the ambassador, Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi. "The green light the United States is showing Russia will not last long."



A top Kremlin aide said Wednesday that Russia was guided by its own long-term interests, and that "our position can be neither pro-American, nor pro-Iranian."



The aide, Sergei Prikhodko, went on to say that Russia rejected extremism and unpredictability in the global arena, and that "those who speak on behalf of the fraternal people of Iran" should not forget this.



"No one has ever managed to save his authority by making use of political demagoguery," Mr. Prikhodko said in remarks carried by Interfax, a Russian news agency. "And I am sure that the thousand-year-long history of Iran itself proves that."



Russia has historically opposed sanctions against Iran, which it considers an important regional ally. That position began to shift late last year when Iranian leaders rejected a United Nations-brokered uranium enrichment plan, which Russia had helped draft, to defuse the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.



With the threat of sanctions looming, Iran revived elements of the proposed compromise, striking a deal with Brazil and Turkey this month to send parts of its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad for further processing.



But that new agreement is also causing friction, particularly between the United States and Brazil. Angry at Washington's dismissal of the deal, Brazilian officials on Wednesday provided a full copy of the three-page letter President Obama sent to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil in April, arguing that it laid the groundwork for the agreement they reached in Tehran.



"There continues to be some puzzlement" among Brazilian officials about why American official would reject the deal now, a senior Brazilian official said. "The letter came from the highest authority and was very clear."



In the letter, Mr. Obama wrote that an agreement by Iran to transfer about 2,600 pounds of low-enriched uranium out of the country "would build confidence and reduce regional tensions by substantially reducing Iran's" uranium stockpile. But he also made clear that the United States would continue to pursue sanctions while leaving the "door open to engagement with Iran."



Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said the letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. da Silva should not be taken in isolation. "No one document or discussion captures the totality of the discussion and their mutual understanding," she said.



A number of countries led by the United States suspect that Iran has been enriching uranium because it wants nuclear weapons. The Security Council has repeatedly told Iran to halt the enrichment. The Iranians have ignored the demand, saying they are within their rights to enrich uranium to relatively low levels for use in reactors.



Last week, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, offered cautious support for a draft Security Council resolution that would impose a fourth set of sanctions on Iran. But he emphasized that the draft needed approval from the council's nonpermanent members, and he encouraged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to consider Tehran's newest proposal to enrich uranium in Turkey.



Tension has also been building between Moscow and Tehran over a proposed sale of S-300 antiaircraft missiles to Tehran, a contract that Russia has suspended but not canceled. Washington has pressed Moscow not to deliver the weapons, which could help Iran shoot down American or Israeli warplanes should either try to bomb its nuclear facilities.




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