(Image source: Central Asia Online)

BY MIKKEL NOEL LANZKY

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

Russia will not support new and stricter sanctions on Iran. Kremlin officials made this clear after an upcoming report from UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, suggests Iran is getting closer to possessing a nuclear weapon.

Fox News relays the Russian reaction:

“Russia, a key member of the UN Security Council, saying the report is old news and refusing to support new sanctions. Moscow claims the international community would view any additional sanctions as quote ‘an instrument for regime change in Tehran.’”

In a statement, Russia’s deputy foreign minister compared the IAEA report to faulty intelligence on the WMD-capabilities of Iraq and stated that the report ‘does not contain fundamentally new information’.
RIA Novosti quotes the Russian Foreign Ministry saying:

“The authors juggle the facts to create the impression that Iran’s nuclear program has a military component […] This approach can hardly be called professional and unbiased.”

In place of sanctions, Russia is urging Iran to cooperate and prove the peaceful intentions of its nuclear program. RT reports:

“Instead Russia put forward an offer which is still on the table, and that is for Iran to fully cooperate on inspections and to prove that what they say about the civilian purpose of their nuclear research is true and is not a cover-up for a weapons program. And in return the international community would be ready to consider lifting sanctions.”

China has also rejected new sanctions. Like Russia, they are a major trading partner of Iran and would only reluctantly join the latest round of sanctions. According to the Guardian:

“Diplomats and observers said that in view of Russian and Chinese opposition, any new punitive measures are likely to be incremental, possibly including a tightening of EU financial and travel sanctions to match US sanctions, and addition of more targets to the UN financial sanctions list. Anything stronger is likely to be vetoed by Russia and China”

So what are the odds of a military strike? India’s Business Standard quotes international affairs think-tank STRATFOR which believes disruption of oil supply will be a key determinant in any military action.

“While the United States and Europe are focused on the global economic crisis (and particularly the euro crisis in Europe), they will want to avoid at all costs video of burning oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, which could panic already skittish markets. As long as that is the case, the prospect of a military strike on Iran is dim.”

Business Standard also quoted STRATFOR as saying military operations against Iran would disrupt at least 40 percent of the world’s sea-borne crude oil supply.

Transcript by Newsy.