RUSSIA: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, Daniel Poneman says U.S.-Russia deal will help contain Iranian nuclear threat

Record ID: 277543

  • Title: RUSSIA: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, Daniel Poneman says U.S.-Russia deal will help contain Iranian nuclear threat
  • Date: 11th December 2010
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 10, 2010) (REUTERS) MOSCOW STREET RITZ CARLTON HOTEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF ENERGY DANIEL PONEMAN SAYING "To the extent that we will only succeed in stopping the Iranian proliferation threat with close cooperation with other countries, including Russia, this is very much consistent with a broad international effort, and
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: International Relations,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVA2WEBT4EFGEGOXU0VPRG62KWIK
  • Story Text: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, Daniel Poneman said on Friday (December 10) that the passage of the '123 Agreement' in the U.S. Congress the day before creates the framework that allows Russia and the United States to contain Iran's nuclear programme.
    "To the extent that we will only succeed in stopping the Iranian proliferation threat with close cooperation with other countries, including Russia, this is very much consistent with a broad international effort, and to have the '123 Agreement' in force only reinforces our ability to work together with Russia and make sure that Iran comes back into compliance with international safeguards obligations," Poneman said.
    The agreement, named after the section of the Atomic Energy Act governing such cooperation, did not require legislative approval, but the U.S. Congress had 90 days to reject it. Poneman said he and his Russian counterpart view the pact as a way to ensure developing countries who are increasingly seeking non-carbon energy sources can obtain them without endangering world safety.
    In the case of Iran, Poneman said, the agreement is invaluable.
    "The United States has always been very consistent that it does not object to Iran having peaceful access to nuclear energy, and of course, the Bushehr reactor is a light water reactor that provides electricity. What we object to is violations of their safeguards obligations. I'd also note that Russia has insisted in the context of Bushehr that it will provide all the enrichment services that would lead to fuelling that reactor and would take all the spent fuel out of the reactor that contains plutonium. So the threat from a proliferation standpoint is posed in those two steps, and in those two steps, Russia has been very co-operative with the international community," he said.
    Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have made cooperation against nuclear proliferation a focus of a "reset" of ties that had been increasingly strained in recent years. Poneman encouraged U.S. senators to ratify the new START arms-control, which is a keystone of the renewed relations, and has not been as easy a sell in the U.S. Capitol as the '123 Agreement'.
    "I would say that the new START agreement is clearly in our national interests. It provides for a reduction of these arms beyond what's been agreed in the past. It provides for important verification provisions. We have been without an ability to verify past obligations now for a year. So, I think it's clearly in our interest. And finally, I would say, the president has made very clear, and the vice president has made very clear that we are going to continue with the modernisation of own deterrent, to make sure that as we proceed, we are maintaining our own effective deterrence and the support for our allies that they expect from us," Poneman said.
    The new START would restore mutual inspections, which have been suspended since the original START treaty expired last December, and ban both countries from deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads and 700 launchers each.
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