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21 August 2003

Russian Support for Iranian Nuclear Program Has Changed, Says Boucher

Spokesman credits years of diplomacy between Russia, U.S.

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher, speaking at the August 20 State Department briefing in Washington, said that Russian support for nuclear activity in Iran has changed as a result of U.S. diplomatic efforts.

"[I]t's been in recent months that the United States, through the efforts of Secretary [of State Colin] Powell and others has been able to see quite a change in the Russian attitude towards nuclear developments in Iran, as well as in the attitude of the international community as expressed in the IAEA and elsewhere," said Boucher.

The spokesman said U.S. policy has been very clear "about the need for Iran to end all support for terrorism."

Following is an excerpt from the August 20 State Department briefing:

(begin excerpt)

QUESTION: Richard, a respected Middle East expert and policy advisor, Michael Ledeen of American Enterprise Institute, has come out with some criticisms of Secretary Powell saying, in some respects, he's been diplomatically naive with respect to Iran. Is he justified?

MR. BOUCHER: I haven't seen the comment, but I think our policy on Iran is quite well expressed. We've been very, very clear. The Secretary has been very, very clear about the need for Iran to end all support for terrorism. The policy the administration has pursued in the IAEA and elsewhere in order to organize the international community to cut off support for nuclear efforts in Iran is showing some success. As you know, this is something that's pursued -- been pursued for many, many years. I remember Secretary Eagleburger talking to Foreign Minister Kozyrev about it, Russia's support for nuclear activity in Iran, and it's been in recent months that the United States, through the efforts of Secretary Powell and others has been able to see quite a change in the Russian attitude towards nuclear developments in Iran, as well as in the attitude of the international community as expressed in the IAEA and elsewhere.

So, I haven't seen the exact text of the criticism, but anything along those lines doesn't seem to correspond to any factual basis of what we're actually doing and achieving in terms of our policy towards Iran.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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