A few more details are coming out about the nuclear deal Bush is going to pursue with Russia that I posted about yesterday. It sounds as if it is a quid pro quo for getting cooperation from Russia over Iran and other problem nations.
But any agreement would be conditioned on Russia helping to pressure Iran to give up its alleged desire to develop nuclear weapons, said Frederick Jones, spokesman for Bush's National Security Council.
"We have made clear to the Russians that for an agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation to go forward, we will need Russia's active cooperation in blocking Iran's attempt to obtain nuclear weapons," Jones said.
The two presidents will announce the start of negotiations on the agreement when they meet on the sidelines of the July 15-17 Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, the White House confirmed.
Nuclear cooperation between the two countries has stalled for more than a decade because of Washington's objections to Russia's nuclear cooperation with Iran, including construction of an atomic power plant in Bushehr.
The Bush administration's willingness to reverse course and pursue a nuclear cooperation agreement reflects the U.S. view that Moscow is now a partner in the effort to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, rather than a hindrance to it.
"Now that Russia has been more cooperative in putting pressure on Iran to abandon its" alleged nuclear weapons program, the United States "won't allow the Iran relationship to get in the way of this particular activity," said Jon Wolfstahl, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace in Washington.
Again, if sufficient controls are built into the agreement, and if the Russians help check the Iranian ambitions, then this may be a good thing.
