SPEECH TO THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN AND DEFENSE POLICY BY RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEY LAVROV
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
March 17, 2007
Excerpts
[Unofficial translation from Russian.]
. . .
A realistic correction of the coalition's course in Iraq would help realized in practice the objective commonality of the interests of Washington and Teheran, staking on one and the same government in that country. There is no doubt that a real political process exists in Iran. To realize the potential of the moderate political forces of Iran and influence the behavior of that country in a required spirit is possible only through involvement.
For all the importance of continued multilateral efforts to find an exit from the present situation around the nuclear program of Iran it is necessary to realize that a significant part of the problem, as in the case of the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem, stems from the unwillingness of the US to normalize its bilateral relations with Teheran on the basis of generally accepted principles. The US displayed flexibility and pragmatism in approach to North Korean affairs - and the result came soon. The same is required in the Iran matter as well. There's no need to think up anything: peaceful coexistence tackled such problems in the recent past. So why not live and let live?
At the same time consistency and logic on the part of our partners are important. If under the pretext of an "Iranian threat" elements of the US national missile defense system are being deployed near our western borders, and sanctions are being imposed against Russian companies, then why make unnecessary fuss in the Security Council of the United Nations? I hope that the American partners will ponder this. Especially as they are exhorting us to combat a theoretical threat while at the same time creating a real threat to our security.
. . .