Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 September / Trend corr. D.Ibrahimova, T.Jafarov/ In spite of being interested in adoption of the UN Resolution on Iran, Russia's final decision on the issue is still not clear.
" Russia certainly has an interest in preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability -- it could trigger an arms race in the Middle East. Plus the credibility of the UN Security Council is on the line. But Russia does not have a strategy for achieving this objective, which is reflected in the conflicting statements by Mssrs. Putin and Lavrov," US expert Andrew J. Grotto, Senior National Security Analyst, said to Trend .
In September, UN permanent members will discuss a new resolution on Iran's nuclear program. Russian officials have been making contradictory statements for two weeks regarding Russia's attitude towards the resolution.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said to CNN that the interests of the West and Russia regarding confrontation with Iran's nuclear program coincide. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized United States' position towards Georgia, saying that Russia would not support UN's sanctions on Iran.
"I suspect Russia will support a fourth resolution, just as it has supported the previous three, but the additional sanctions will be modest in scope and effect," said Grotto.
According to Grotto, the main objective will be to remind Iran that the P5+1 remain united behind the goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
Only Vladimir Putin knows if Russia will cooperate with the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and China on securing a fourth sanctions resolution against Iran, Grotto said.
According to Russian expert Vladimir Evseev, senior researcher of the International Security Centre at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of World Economy & International Relations, Putin's statement regarding Russia's wish to cooperate with the United States does not envisage adoption of a next UN Resolution on Iran.
"Adoption of sanctions will be contingent on three factors: who will be elected Prime Minister of Israel; who will win the presidential elections in the United States; and certainly on the state of US-Russian relations at the moment of discussion of the resolution," Evseev said to Trend in a telephone conversation from Moscow.
According to Evseev, there is neither opportunity nor need to pass the resolution, as Resolution-1803, stipulating for economic sanctions, has not yet been fulfilled.
Iranian expert on international issues Gasan Shariatmadari believes that Russia wants to hide its main position towards Iran's nuclear program.
" Russia seeks to create a contradictory situation amongst US politicians to the extent of discussing of United Nations' fourth resolution on Iran," Shariatmadari said to Trend in a telephone conversation from Germany.
Shariatmadari said that for this purpose one high-ranking Russian official stated that Russia was ready for close cooperation with Washington another one says Russia does not want to back the resolution.
Georgia for the United States and Iran's nuclear program for Russia are manipulation tools, Shariatmadari said. " Russia and the United States are unlikely to divide the spheres of power in Caucasus in near future."
According to Shariatmadari, Russia and United States may reach a consensus on several issues (UN's sanction on Iran or withdrawal of troops from Georgia), but they will not be able to achieve agreements on CIS and Middle East in near future.
Evseev said Russia's primary task at the moment is to stabilize the situation in South Ossetia. "It is difficult to imagine Russia supporting the resolution when NATO ships are staying in Georgia and given the fact that the European Union wanted to impose sanctions on Russia," he said.
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