Russia closer to US on sanctions against Tehran
Medvedev, who met US President Barak Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said that in some cases harsher sanctions are “inevitable”.
Until now, the international community has not been able to apply effective sanctions because China and Russia continue to prop up Iran’s economy
Tightening sanctions is seen as necessary to force Tehran to stop its nuclear programme, which appears to have a military component.
Sanctions dominated talks between Obama and Medvedev. The US president said that if Iran did “not respond to serious negotiations and resolve this issue in a way that assures the international community that it is meeting its commitments and is not developing nuclear weapons, then we will have to take additional actions”.
However, for Medvedev, “Sanctions rarely lead to productive results but in some cases sanctions are inevitable”.
The increased pressure on Iran comes a week before the next meeting of the 5+1 group on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
In preparation for those talks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today met with her counterparts from Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany.
In his UN address, President Ahmadinejad said that his country was ready to shake all hands that "are honestly extended to us,” in an indirect allusion to Obama’s overtures.
The Iranian leader said that Iran is committed to building durable peace and security worldwide, aiming at the “eradication of arms race and elimination of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons," he said.
He used his speech to accuse Israel of "inhuman policies in Palestine" and condemn US-led military action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Several countries' delegations walked out of the assembly during Mr Ahmadinejad's speech, including France and the United States.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian uses only, but Western powers (and Israel) suspect it is trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
Observers suggest that changes to Russia’s stance on sanctions appear to be related to the decision by the United States to drop its plan to build an anti-missile defence shield close to Russian borders, a plan that was slammed by Moscow.
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