YEKATERINBURG: Russia wants Iran to provide explanations over its nuclear program and fully cooperate with the international community, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday
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In his latest tough statement on the Islamic republic’s atomic drive, Medvedev warned Iran’s leadership that it does not "live in space" and said Iranian leaders were using the nuclear crisis for political ends.
"Iran is an active trade partner of ours. But this does not mean that we are indifferent to how Iran is developing its nuclear program," Medvedev said at a news conference alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"We are not indifferent to how the military component of this program looks. In this respect we expect the corresponding explanations from Iran," he said.
"Iran should find the courage to start full cooperation with the international community, even if it does not like some of the questions that are posed," he added.
Medvedev angered Iranian officials but gladdened the United States earlier this week when he declared that Iran was close to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon.
Russia, traditionally a diplomatic and economic ally of Iran, in the past took a milder line against Tehran than Western powers but recently has noticeably hardened its position amid improving relations with the United States.
The change in rhetoric has caused an unprecedented slump in its relations with Iran and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Moscow that it risks joining Washington as a historic enemy of Tehran.
"In the end they of course do not live in space," said Medvedev. "And they must understand the responsibility that Iran has before the international community."
"I understand that this issue is one of national pride for Iran, it is an issue around which there is unity in Iran and also a topic which is actively exploited by Iranian leaders for their own political ends," he said.
However, economic cooperation is continuing between the two sides and a day earlier Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir Kazemi agreed to work on a "roadmap" for future joint work.
Shmatko also said Russian companies were ready to supply fuel to energy-hungry Iran, despite unilateral US and EU sanctions targeting Tehran’s oil and gas sectors.
