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U.S.-Russia Relations Affected by Iraq and Iran
MOSCOW, Oct 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iran and Iraq still remain "the apple of discord" in relations between Moscow and Washington, said a high-ranking Russian diplomat in an interview with the Russian news agency Itar-Tass Wednesday, on the eve of a Washington visit by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
"The world community should get convinced that Iraq has no mass destruction weapons," Ivanov. "For this purpose, an access of expert to the country is necessary."
Russia is interested in developing economic relations with Iraq and believes that restoration of cooperation between Baghdad and the United Nations could be a real solution of the ongoing crisis.
Another six-month phase of the Oil for Food program will end early in December, and new difficult discussions are expected at the U.N. They are complicated by the fact that neither Iraq nor the United States display a willingness for a compromise.
At the same time, the diplomat who refused to be identified, warned against any forceful actions with respect to Iraq, which "would provoke protests in the Arab world and aggravated additionally the international situation."
The diplomat rejected U.S. accusations about alleged leakages of missile technologies to Iran. According to the diplomat, Russia "is not interested in Teheran possessing mass destruction weapons and their delivery vehicles."
"Russia seeks to develop military cooperation with Iran under its international obligations and in such a way that it would not upset the balance in the region."
Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri urged the United States Wednesday to heed President Saddam Hussein's call to scrap nuclear weapons.
"We invite the United States to respond favorably to the Iraqi head of state's message to get rid of their arsenal of weapons of mass destruction," Sabri said in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Iraq says it no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction, although Washington has cast doubt on the claims that U.N. arms inspectors destroyed what remained after the 1991 Gulf War, although former U.S. arms inspector, Scott Ritter, supports Iraq's claim.
The U.S.-backed British proposals for a revision of sanctions against Iraq were due to have been put to the vote in the U.N. Security Council in July, but they were shelved in the face of a threatened Russian veto.
The 11-year long sanctions on Iraq have killed almost 1.5 million Iraqis, including over 500,000 children under the age of 5, reported UNICEF in its annual report last year.
Saddam called on Washington Tuesday to take the "first step" to get rid of weapons of mass destruction, which he dubbed the "utmost threat to humanity".
"The events of September [and the anthrax attacks] clearly show the importance of world cooperation on the basis of a binding agreement to get rid of the burden and the threat of weapons of mass destruction," the Iraqi leader said in an open letter to Western nations and governments.
It was the third message Saddam has sent to the West since the September 11 attacks in the United States.
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