Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 11 / Trend , E.Tariverdiyeva/
Russia and U.S. can agree on anti-missile defense cooperation, but it will depend on president Barack Obama's readiness to cancel deploying the third positional region in Europe and Iran's refusal to work over nuclear weapon.
"Cooperation between the U.S., Russia and Europe on common missile defense is possible, welcome, and very likely," Czech Political Scientist Roman Joch said. "We are glad that Russia does not reject that cooperation, anymore."
On Feb. 10, at a joint news conference with Czech Foreign Minister Carel Schwarzenberg, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded the administration's doubts and moreover, state that the project may be cancelled if Iran refuses work over nuclear weapon, Voice of America reported.
Terms and scales of deploying Missile Defense Shield (MDS), if situation reaches it at all, are of technical character, Clinton said.
On Feb. 2, during teledebates Swarzenberg noted that he did not exclude to establish cooperation with Russia on MDS issue.
U.S. president's former advisor Zbignev Bzhezinski who participated in the debates stated that constructing radar in the Czech Republic is not an immediate task for U.S. at the moment. So far, East European MDS system's efficiency has been under doubt, Bezhinski said.
Russia can favor to begin negotiations between U.S. and Iran instead of stopping MDS project, experts believe. But it will depend on relation between Moscow and Washington and President Obama's readiness to stop deploying the third positional region in Europe.
"I think that Russia can help with negotiations between Iran and the West on Tehran's nuclear program," American Military Expert Viktoria Samson said to Trend .
The relations between the U.S and Iran were broken in 1981. There were no high level talks between the sides since that time. The relations between two countries are being complicated because of development of Iran's nuclear program. U.S doubts in peaceful intentions of the program. But Iran insists on peaceful character of the program's development.
Russia's mediation in the U.S-Iranian relations will depend on relations between the U.S and Russia, Expert of Center for Defense information Samson said.
Russia's mediation will depend on whether the U.S. will continue deploying the anti-missile defense system in Europe, whether Russia will refuse from placing of Iskander in Kaliningrad and whether Moscow and Washington will be able to reach mutual agreement on renewal talks on START-2 (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), she told trend News via E-mail.
The U.S intends to place radar in Czechia and ten rocket-interceptors in Poland by 2010 under pretence of protection from Iran's missile threat. Russia bewares of these systems will harm its security. Russia will place Iskander rocket complexes in Kaliningrad, as well as apply radio electronic suppression of Anti Missile Defence elements as a reply to placing of the U.S Anti Missile Defence elements in Europe, the Russian Federation's President Dmitry Medvedev said early in November.
Tehran does not need any Russia's mediation, Iranian expert said.
Tehran and Washington will not need any mediator if Iran regards cooperation with the U.S as profitable, if conditions are created for this cooperation, if the Obama Administration expresses its willingness to cooperate with Iran in deed, not by words, Beheshtipour told Trend over phone.
Future of the U.S anti-missile defense in Europe will depend on new Minister of Finance in the Obama Administration, Yannis Stivachtis U.S expert on security said.
The decision to establish the anti-missile defense system in Europe has been from the very beginning one of the greatest issue of contention between U.S. and Russia. If the Obama Administration wishes to ameliorate this situation, then, a range of possibilities exist for U.S.-Russian collaboration, Dr. Ioannis Stivachtis, Associate Professor and Director of the International Studies Program said to Trend via e-mail.
The cooperative security policies may help to address the security concerns of all parties involved -Russia, U.S. and the countries where the anti-missile defense system is to be established. However, the Czech political scientist said that any suggestions of its rejection by President Obama are premature.
It is possible indeed that the process of missile defense build-up will be slowed-down under President Obama, due to financial constraints imposed on the U.S. budget by the current financial crisis. If, however, President Obama decides to shut down missile defense completely - which I do not believe will happen - then that decision would be his major geo-political blunder; which may become, one day, a strategic blunder of astronomic proportions," Dr. Roman Joch, Executive Director of the Civic Institute in Prague, said to Trend via e-mail.
However, the cooperation between Russia and U.S. in the missile defense causes doubt of Russian observers. Huge resources had already invested to deploy this defense system, said Russian military expert Konstantin Sivkov. "It may be delayed, but it will be deployed there anyway," Sivkov, first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, said to Trend .
Even without nuclear weapons, but the radar system will surely be deployed there, he said.
The cooperation with Russia is impossible, as any military system controlled by a single system that is in this case in the U.S., but not in Russia. This cooperation is unacceptable for Russia.
R. Agayev (Moscow) and D. Ibrahimov (Baku) contributed in the article.
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