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Thursday, March 15, 2001

Leaving a 45-minute meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian National Security Adviser Sergei Ivanov said he didn't know why the United States was so worried about proposed deals with Iran – one of the seven nations on the State Department's terrorism list.

"There are no arms deals with Iran so far, but we discussed possible future contracts. They are all legitimate and I expressed our position; in fact, it hasn't changed since last year or five years ago," Ivanov told reporters staked out at the State Department.

Ivanov was in town Wednesday for meetings with President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of State Colin Powell on a variety of issues, though Russia's recent mending of ties with Iran and announcement Monday that it intended to sell "defensive weapons" to Tehran, has sparked concern throughout Washington.

To start with, depending on the weapons Moscow eventually sells, the pact could violate a host of U.S. laws that punish third countries that arm Iran. Those sanctions range from suspending technical assistance and foreign aid to vetoing international loans for the offending government. But Russia's sales may also violate agreements it signed in 1995 to control the flow of the most advanced conventional arms.

Either way, Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement Monday presents an early test for the Bush administration.

Reaction so far from the State Department has been measured. Speaking before the Senate Budget Committee Wednesday, Powell said, "If Russia wants a better relationship with the United States and the West – and we think it's in their interest to want such a relationship – we have to be concerned when we see suggestions that they may be investing in weapons sales or accomplishing weapons sales with regimes such as Iran."

In 1995, Russia agreed not to sign new contracts with Iran if the United States agreed not to apply sanctions against Russia for honoring its old contracts with that country. Moscow backed out of this accord last December, when Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov promised then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that no new agreements of this nature were in the offing.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters Wednesday that Powell pressed Ivanov for more specifics on the kinds of weapons his country intended to sell to Iran, but ultimately the two agreed to leave this for a technical experts meeting in the future.

Ivanov told reporters later that the kinds of weapons Moscow was considering in the new arms contract involved "tanks, personnel carriers and anti-aircraft missiles, which are very legitimate and not offensive."

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

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