Iran lashes out at Russia for adopting US positions on nuclear threat
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
By: ICEJ News

Missing Iranian nuclear scientist on way home

The recent rift between Iran and Russia appears to be deepening, as top Iranian officials have called on Moscow over recent days not to follow the US lead by parroting claims that Iran's nuclear program has a military track.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Tuesday rejected as "totally false" comments by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev the day before that Iran is close to achieving the ability to deploy nuclear weapons.

"The recent comments made by Medvedev regarding the Iranian nuclear theme are totally false and we deny them," he told a news conference while visiting Madrid. "We do not know what the ultimate goal behind these comments is, what operations are behind it... But we maintain our position clearly and we are doing nothing but claiming our rights. Russia is our neighbor and we want to maintain good relations but we are critical of some of its positions."

On Wednesday, Allaedin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, also dismissed Medvedev’s remarks as “fully illogical” and warned it could lead to a loss of business with Iran.

"Iran's nuclear activities are clear and transparent and the IAEA inspectors can visit our sites and their cameras are monitoring Iran's nuclear work," Boroujerdi insisted. He added that Russia has made a commitment to complete the Bushehr nuclear power plant by August, saying “the project is closely related with Russia's regional dignity, so their dignity will be ruined if they fail to live up to their obligations. Russia will lose opportunity for other projects in Iran if it does not leave a good record."

Boroujerdi also commented on missing Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who is reportedly on his way home to Iran after turning up at the Pakistani embassy in Washington yesterday and demanding an air ticket home. "The US must be held accountable legally for the terrorist action," Boroujerdi said after insisting that Amiri had been “abducted” by US intelligence in Saudi Arabia last year.

Amiri, who worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, also told Pakistani officials yesterday that he had been kidnapped by American intelligence agents while on a pilgrimage last year and had spent most of the time since in Tucson being tortured and questioned about Iran's nuclear ambitions. But CIA officials countered that he defected voluntarily and provided valuable intelligence about Iran's nuclear program before increased worries over the safety of his family in Iran prompted him to seek a return.

Meantime, US Army Gen. Ray Odierno stated on Tuesday that security has been heightened at coalition bases in Iraq to guard against possible terror strikes by Iranian agents in retaliation for America’s lead role in confronting Iran’s nuclear program. "There's a very consistent threat from Iranian surrogates operating in Iraq," Odierno told reporters in Baghdad, adding that many of the groups have direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.