http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SAE06O0&show_article=1 Putin Warns US Against Attacking Iran Oct 16 11:58 AM US/Eastern By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Russian leader Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran. He also said countries bordering the Caspian Sea must jointly back any oil pipeline projects in the region. At a summit of the five nations that border the inland Caspian Sea, Putin said none of the nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for use of military force against any nation in the region. It was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. was planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran. "We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state," Putin said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also underlined the need for solidarity. "The Caspian Sea is an inland sea and it only belongs to the Caspian states, therefore only they are entitled to have their ships and military forces here," he said. A State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said the United States is not planning military action against Iran. "We are pursuing a diplomatic course with respect to Iran that includes with respect to its nuclear program as well as with respect to its support for terrorism and other issues that are out there," he said. Putin refused to set a date for the start-up of Iran's first nuclear power plant, to be built by Russia. "I only gave promises to my mom when I was a small boy," Putin told Iranian reporters, when asked whether he could promise that the plant that Russia is building would be launched before his term ends next May. At the same time, he said, "We are not going to renounce our obligations." Putin's careful stance suggested that Russia is seeking to preserve solid ties with Iran without angering the West. A clear pledge by Putin to quickly finish the plant would embolden Iran and could complicate international talks on the nuclear standoff. Putin, whose trip to Tehran is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, warned that energy pipeline projects crossing the Caspian could only be implemented if all five nations that border the sea support them. Putin did not name a specific country, but his statement underlined Moscow's strong opposition to U.S.-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver hydrocarbons to the West, bypassing Russia. "Projects that may inflict serious environmental damage to the region cannot be implemented without prior discussion by all five Caspian nations," he said. Other nations bordering the Caspian Sea and in attendance at the summit are: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. The legal status of the Caspian—believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves—has been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse, leading to tension and conflicting claims to seabed oil deposits. Iran, which shared the Caspian's resources equally with the Soviet Union, insists that each coastal nation receive an equal portion of the seabed. Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan want the division based on the length of each nation's shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share. Putin's visit took place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program. Putin has warned the U.S. and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in its nuclear program and insists peaceful dialogue is the only way to deal with Tehran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment. "Threatening someone, in this case the Iranian leadership and Iranian people, will lead nowhere," Putin said Monday during his trip to Germany. "They are not afraid, believe me." Iran's rejection of the council's demand and its previous clandestine atomic work has fed suspicions in the U.S. and other countries that Tehran is working to enrich uranium to a purity usable in nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is only wants lesser-enriched uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that would generate electricity. Putin's visit to Tehran is being closely watched for any possible shifts in Russia's carefully hedged stance in the nuclear standoff. The Russian president underlined his disagreements with Washington last week, saying he saw no "objective data" to prove Western claims that Iran is trying to construct nuclear weapons. Putin emphasized Monday that he would negotiate in Tehran on behalf of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members—United States, Russia, China, Britain and France—and Germany, a group that has led efforts to resolve the stalemate with Tehran. ___ Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini and Nasser Karimi contributed to this report.
Reagan has been out of office for 20 years. Certainly you are not equating this photo op with the pre-Reagan cold war are you? Interesting that Putin would go out of his way to stand up for a country with a possible assassination plot against him....
Putin has to keep up the appearances of the old cold war, it's what he has to do to keep power. But the truth is that he can't afford an old style cold war, he has a smaller population to work with than the old Russian dictators did and Russia is a poor havenot country that can barely afford to maintain it's Military.
What I'm saying is we waisted lots of money out spending Russia back in the days of Reagan. Russia still is not to be trusted. I believe they have a vendetta against the U.S. and here's a little pay back to throw in our face. So what good did it do spending Russia into going broke? The threat of nuclear arms is still as strong as ever? Back then they weren't going to use them against us anymore than we would against them. Now Russia helps Iran, Who's to stop them?
Well the end of the Cold War resulted in freedom from the Soviet oppression in Eastern Europe, the Caspian Sea and the Baltic Sea. So I'd say the end of the Cold War was a good thing and I think the people of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuiania, Ukrane, all those 'stans, the Poles, the East Germans, the Czechs, the Slovaks, the Romanians, the Bulgarians, etc would disagree with your assessment of the value of ending the Cold War.
It is mind bogling that this is lost on some. Reagan and to some extent John Paul II, because of his support of the first independant trade union in the Soviet Block, led by Lech Walesa, were primarily responsible for the demise of the Soviet Union and the freedom of millions.
If Russia once again is a threatening power, watch how quickly those cowardly French will warm up to their good friends Les Americans. Like the rest of those Europussies, they'll hide behind our military skirts.
Gip, Putin is pining for the days when he was running the KGB in the old Soviet Union. Now trying to make bold by raising hell about the missle defense hardware being installed in the Czech Republic and Poland. He knows damn well these are defensive measures and no threat to Russia. These Republics, formerly under the Soviet boot are giving him the finger and there is nothing he can do about it.
It bothers me when he starts warming up to OPEC members like Iran. Russia still has a lot of oil. That's still our Achilles heel.
Oil is the secret to everything, As long as we are dependent on foreign sources we will be pulled into conflicts we do not belong in.
This is a real concern, as oil can affect the economy, not to mention the stock market. However the suppliers can't drink the stuff and local economies of the oil producers put pressure to sell. We have to push alternatives and exploration big time. I read where receding ice in Northern Canada and elsewhere may open huge oil fields.