Jerusalem Post - 11.15.2001

 

Putin: We won't sell Iran weapons that threaten Israel 

By Janine Zacharia
The Jerusalem Post

WASHINGTON (November 15) - Russia will not sell Iran weaponry that could be used to threaten Israel, President Vladimir Putin told Jewish leaders this week.

Putin, here for a bilateral summit with President George W. Bush, met for 45 minutes at the Russian embassy Tuesday night with leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and NCSJ, an advocacy group on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Eurasia.

"He said they would not sell weapons that would endanger Israel," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents.

Hoenlein said Putin expressed broad support for Israel's security, particularly since such a large percentage of the population is made up of Russian immigrants.

Putin gave examples of weaponry Russia would withhold from Iran including Stinger-like, hand-held missiles, which Israel advocates worry could endanger Israeli towns if they fall into the hands of Iran's proxy in Lebanon, Hizbullah.

Last month Russia and Iran inked a conventional arms agreement that will allow for the sale of up to $300 million annually in conventional weapons.

Under the deal, Russia declared Iran a historical partner and agreed to intensify bilateral military and technical cooperation.

No exact details of what Russia would sell Iran were released, but Teheran is reportedly seeking advanced missile and MiG-29 fighter jets.

On Russia's transfer of nuclear materials to Iran, which both the Russians and Iranians say are going toward production of a civilian nuclear reactor, Putin told the Jewish leaders that Russia was not selling weapons-grade material.

In an interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20 last week, Putin denied Russia was helping Iran develop a nuclear weapon.

"We have some projects in atomic energy. The US has the same projects in its relations with North Korea. It has nothing to do with developing nuclear weapons. We are categorically opposed to transferring any technology to Iran that would help it develop nuclear weapons," he said.

But American and Israeli officials insist Russian scientists are working with their Iranian counterparts - some allege with the Kremlin's knowledge - to develop nuclear weapons, and that the reactor project is, at least in part, cover for the collaboration.

US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice assured Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh last week that Bush would make American concerns about Iranian nuclear proliferation a top priority of his discussions with Putin this week.

The Jewish leaders also expressed their support for President Bush's goodwill gesture to Putin to drop a Cold War-era link between Russia's emigration policies and trade status, an American law spurred by the former Soviet Union's refusal to allow Jewish emigration.

Under the Jackson-Vanik amendment passed in 1974, and lobbied for by Jewish American organizations, Russia and other countries with non-free market economies must show they do not restrict emigration before they can have normal trading relations with the US. Elimination of the annual test would pave the way for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.