Putin warns against using Caspian territories for attack on regional powers

Russian president voices strong opposition to efforts to build pipelines which would deliver hydrocarbons to the West.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
putin in Iran 224.88 (photo credit: )
putin in Iran 224.88
(photo credit: )
Russia, Iran and other Caspian Sea countries strongly warned outside nations on Tuesday against using their territories for launching military action, but they failed to reach an agreement on ways to divide the sea's vast energy resources. The declaration at the end of the summit of leaders from the five nations bordering the inland sea, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, did not name any countries but it was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the US might be planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran. "The parties underline that under no circumstances would they allow other nations to use their territory for waging aggression or other military action against any of the parties," the declaration said. The countries also offered a sign of support for Iran's disputed nuclear program, stressing that any country that is signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty can "carry out research and can use nuclear energy for peaceful means without discrimination," according to the declaration. Earlier Tuesday Putin, whose trip to Iran is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, warned that projects of energy pipelines crossing the Caspian could only be implemented if all five littoral nations support them. Moscow has strong opposition to US-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver Central Asian and Caspian hydrocarbons to the West bypassing Russia. 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. Turkmenistan is also vying for the Caspian's resources. The countries failed to reach an agreement on dividing the Caspian, but they agreed to continue holding regular talks. Ahmadinejad said the next Caspian summit will be held next year in Baku, Azerbaijan. Following the summit, Putin and Ahmadinejad went into private talks. Putin indicated the meeting would touch on the Iran's disputed nuclear program, but he did not elaborate. Iran's state-run television quoted Putin as saying Moscow would continue to support Iran. "Responsible bodies in Russia will assist Iran's peaceful nuclear program," the television quoted Putin as saying as the Russian president entered his meeting with Ahmadinejad. Observers at the talks said Iran's nuclear chief, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, would also attend the meeting. Putin also planned to meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Putin's visit is taking place amid hopes that a round of personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program. The Russian leader's trip had been thrown into doubt when the Kremlin said Sunday that he had been informed by Russian special services that suicide attackers might try to kill him in Teheran, but he shrugged off the warning. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini called the reports disinformation spread by adversaries who hoped to spoil good relations between Russia and Iran. Putin has warned the US 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 Teheran's defiance of a UN Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment. Iran's rejection of the council's demand and its previous clandestine atomic work has fed suspicions in the US and others that Teheran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, including generating electricity. Putin underlined his disagreements with Washington last week, saying he saw no "objective data" to prove claims that Iran is trying to construct nuclear weapons. On Monday, he emphasized that he would negotiate in Teheran on behalf of the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany, a group that has led efforts to resolve the stalemate with Teheran. In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the US government expected Putin to "convey the concerns shared by all of us about the failure of Iran to comply with the international community's requirements concerning its nuclear program." While the Kremlin has shielded Teheran from a US push for a third round of UN sanctions, Iran has voiced annoyance about Moscow's foot-dragging in building a nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr under a $1 billion contract. Russia has warned that the plant would not be launched this fall as planned because Iran was slow in making payments. Iranian officials have angrily denied any payment arrears and accused the Kremlin of caving in to Western pressure. Moscow also has ignored Iranian demands to ship fuel for the plant, saying it would be delivered only six months before the Bushehr plant goes on line. The launch date has been delayed indefinitely amid the payment dispute.