United Nations:
The White House praised Russia's president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, on Wednesday for publicly barring the shipment of an advanced antimissile system to Iran, even as American diplomats here discussed a plan to reopen negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
The Russian announcement and the effort to revive a diplomatic engagement that fell apart a year ago came as President Barack Obama arrived in New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and laid out what he called an ambitious new approach to American development assistance for the world's poorest countries.
"The days when your development was dictated by foreign capitals must come to an end," Obama said from the well of the United Nations, the first of two speeches there over two days, drawing applause from nearly 190 nations attending the Millennium Development Goals summit meeting.
Medvedev's announcement confirmed in public what Russian officials had quietly told American and French officials in June: that he would interpret the United Nations sanctions against Iran as mandating that Russia should permanently halt delivery of S-300 missiles, which Tehran wanted to build as a deterrent to airstrikes against its nuclear facilities. The declaration by Medvedev ended equivocation by Russian officials about whether the sophisticated advanced air defense system would fall under the sanctions ban.
Iran declared several months ago that it would build an equivalent system of its own, but obtaining the components, the guidance systems and the expertise would be a challenge, especially with the ban on high-technology imports to the country.
The White House, eager to demonstrate cooperation with Russia at a moment when the Senate is debating ratification of the new strategic arms reduction treaty, said in a statement that Medvedev "has demonstrated leadership on holding Iran accountable to its international obligations from start to finish." It added, "This continues to demonstrate how Russia and the United States are cooperating closely on behalf of our mutual interests, and global security."
Medvedev's decree ended an internal debate in Russia, pitting supporters of sanctions against those trying to bolster economic relations with Iran, and about whether the Security Council sanctions included the air defense missiles. Russian news media had reported that the contract was worth $800 million.
"The importance is, it is now public and official," James F. Collins, former ambassador to Russia and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a telephone interview from Washington.
The Russian and American announcements came as Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, continued a seemingly endless series of public appearances in New York - television interviews, meetings with reporters and academics and speeches denouncing American imperialism, proclaiming the failures of capitalism, and warning the United States that it had never been involved in a "real war."
But he also said that the resumption of talks between Iran and the West was inevitable, and while the United States fears being mired in fruitless negotiations while Iran's stockpile of nuclear material increases, Ahmadinejad's prediction seems about right.
At a meeting today with France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, diplomats planned what one senior American official described to reporters as a "phased approach" that would include reviving an earlier proposal to supply Iran with enriched fuel for a research reactor in Tehran in return for Iran's shipping the bulk of its stockpile of uranium to Russia and France.
"We're prepared to engage and see if we can't produce what would be a confidence-building step," said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a private meeting.
The original deal fell apart soon after it was negotiated last October in Geneva, rejected in Tehran. That set off a chain of events that led to the Security Council sanctions, the toughest of four passed in as many years.
Part of the motivation for the sanctions was to force Iran back to negotiations, and ultimately to comply with the Security Council demand that it halt all enrichment of nuclear fuel and answer the questions posed by international inspectors. But resurrecting the research reactor deal will be tricky.
The original deal called for Iran to turn over 1,200 kilograms of nuclear fuel, in return for specialized fuel rods that would enable the research reactor to produce medical isotopes. At the time, that would have left Iran with less than one bomb's worth of low-enriched uranium. But since then, Iran's stockpile has increased, and it has begun enriching some uranium to 20 percent, a level of purity that takes it closer to bomb-grade fuel.
A new deal would call for Iran to turn over more of its stockpile, and to cease the 20 percent enrichment.
Communicating with Iran has been characteristically difficult. Iran has yet to respond to specific overtures by the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton. She is seeking a specific date for a meeting.
Iran's reluctance to do that may reflect internal disagreements in Tehran about how to respond to the latest Western efforts to discuss its nuclear program, another senior official said.
The administration hopes to learn more about Iran's intentions later this week when the British foreign secretary, William Hague, meets the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in New York. Iranian officials are also likely to meet diplomats from Russia and China.
But in a sign of the chill between the United States and Iran, officials said they did not expect any meetings, even impromptu encounters, between American and Iranian officials in New York. Just the process of arranging a meeting with Iran will take several weeks, an official said.
Obama used the United Nations development conference to announce a plan to reinvigorate American development efforts and the principal agency for delivering them, the United States Agency for International Development, which languished for years with financing cutbacks and a loss of talented employees.
Instead of dictating development projects and goals to poorer countries, he said, the United States would seek partnerships with local governments and organizations to give them a voice in setting their priorities. He also said the administration would focus on choosing development projects where it believed that American involvement could produce sustainable economic growth. It will also seek to team up with other governments and well-financed new players, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
While the administration does not plan to change its overall commitment to aid, officials said it would reallocate funds from countries that are deemed less promising to those with a greater chance of success.
The White House wants to raise the profile of the development agency, but it has not fundamentally changed its place in the administration. The agency's administrator, Rajiv Shah, will continue to report to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a largely symbolic step, he will have a seat on the National Security Council for issues that are relevant to development.
The Russian announcement and the effort to revive a diplomatic engagement that fell apart a year ago came as President Barack Obama arrived in New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and laid out what he called an ambitious new approach to American development assistance for the world's poorest countries.
"The days when your development was dictated by foreign capitals must come to an end," Obama said from the well of the United Nations, the first of two speeches there over two days, drawing applause from nearly 190 nations attending the Millennium Development Goals summit meeting.
Medvedev's announcement confirmed in public what Russian officials had quietly told American and French officials in June: that he would interpret the United Nations sanctions against Iran as mandating that Russia should permanently halt delivery of S-300 missiles, which Tehran wanted to build as a deterrent to airstrikes against its nuclear facilities. The declaration by Medvedev ended equivocation by Russian officials about whether the sophisticated advanced air defense system would fall under the sanctions ban.
Iran declared several months ago that it would build an equivalent system of its own, but obtaining the components, the guidance systems and the expertise would be a challenge, especially with the ban on high-technology imports to the country.
The White House, eager to demonstrate cooperation with Russia at a moment when the Senate is debating ratification of the new strategic arms reduction treaty, said in a statement that Medvedev "has demonstrated leadership on holding Iran accountable to its international obligations from start to finish." It added, "This continues to demonstrate how Russia and the United States are cooperating closely on behalf of our mutual interests, and global security."
Medvedev's decree ended an internal debate in Russia, pitting supporters of sanctions against those trying to bolster economic relations with Iran, and about whether the Security Council sanctions included the air defense missiles. Russian news media had reported that the contract was worth $800 million.
"The importance is, it is now public and official," James F. Collins, former ambassador to Russia and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a telephone interview from Washington.
The Russian and American announcements came as Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, continued a seemingly endless series of public appearances in New York - television interviews, meetings with reporters and academics and speeches denouncing American imperialism, proclaiming the failures of capitalism, and warning the United States that it had never been involved in a "real war."
But he also said that the resumption of talks between Iran and the West was inevitable, and while the United States fears being mired in fruitless negotiations while Iran's stockpile of nuclear material increases, Ahmadinejad's prediction seems about right.
At a meeting today with France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, diplomats planned what one senior American official described to reporters as a "phased approach" that would include reviving an earlier proposal to supply Iran with enriched fuel for a research reactor in Tehran in return for Iran's shipping the bulk of its stockpile of uranium to Russia and France.
"We're prepared to engage and see if we can't produce what would be a confidence-building step," said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a private meeting.
The original deal fell apart soon after it was negotiated last October in Geneva, rejected in Tehran. That set off a chain of events that led to the Security Council sanctions, the toughest of four passed in as many years.
Part of the motivation for the sanctions was to force Iran back to negotiations, and ultimately to comply with the Security Council demand that it halt all enrichment of nuclear fuel and answer the questions posed by international inspectors. But resurrecting the research reactor deal will be tricky.
The original deal called for Iran to turn over 1,200 kilograms of nuclear fuel, in return for specialized fuel rods that would enable the research reactor to produce medical isotopes. At the time, that would have left Iran with less than one bomb's worth of low-enriched uranium. But since then, Iran's stockpile has increased, and it has begun enriching some uranium to 20 percent, a level of purity that takes it closer to bomb-grade fuel.
A new deal would call for Iran to turn over more of its stockpile, and to cease the 20 percent enrichment.
Communicating with Iran has been characteristically difficult. Iran has yet to respond to specific overtures by the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton. She is seeking a specific date for a meeting.
Iran's reluctance to do that may reflect internal disagreements in Tehran about how to respond to the latest Western efforts to discuss its nuclear program, another senior official said.
The administration hopes to learn more about Iran's intentions later this week when the British foreign secretary, William Hague, meets the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in New York. Iranian officials are also likely to meet diplomats from Russia and China.
But in a sign of the chill between the United States and Iran, officials said they did not expect any meetings, even impromptu encounters, between American and Iranian officials in New York. Just the process of arranging a meeting with Iran will take several weeks, an official said.
Obama used the United Nations development conference to announce a plan to reinvigorate American development efforts and the principal agency for delivering them, the United States Agency for International Development, which languished for years with financing cutbacks and a loss of talented employees.
Instead of dictating development projects and goals to poorer countries, he said, the United States would seek partnerships with local governments and organizations to give them a voice in setting their priorities. He also said the administration would focus on choosing development projects where it believed that American involvement could produce sustainable economic growth. It will also seek to team up with other governments and well-financed new players, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
While the administration does not plan to change its overall commitment to aid, officials said it would reallocate funds from countries that are deemed less promising to those with a greater chance of success.
The White House wants to raise the profile of the development agency, but it has not fundamentally changed its place in the administration. The agency's administrator, Rajiv Shah, will continue to report to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a largely symbolic step, he will have a seat on the National Security Council for issues that are relevant to development.
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