Israel decries Russian move to aid Iran’s nuclear program

MOSCOW, March 8 (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out strongly against a Russian decision to build two more nuclear reactors at a plant near the Iranian city of Bushehr. The Russians have “all kinds of explanations for these reactors,” the premier said after meeting last Friday with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. “I am not convinced that it satisfies us.” Russia, which has already agreed to help build two reactors at Bushehr, says the nuclear power plant is solely designed to generate electricity. But Israeli and American officials claim the technology being transferred from Moscow to Tehran could be used to help Iran develop nuclear weapons. A spokesman for the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry last Friday repeated Russia’s insistence that the construction did not violate any international agreements regarding nuclear proliferation. In January, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin issued a decree banning the export of weapons technology to Iran. Word of the latest agreement between Moscow and Iran was issued last Friday, just days after Israeli Trade Minister Natan Sharansky visited Moscow in an effort to halt Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation. During a briefing with Israeli journalists while he was in Germany, Netanyahu refused to comment on whether the announcement to build the two reactors proved that the Israeli diplomatic initiative reflected in Sharansky’s visit was a failure. Kohl, considered to be the Western leader with the closest ties to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, reportedly told Netanyahu that he would discuss the issue during an upcoming trip to Moscow. In a move last week that led some observers to believe that Moscow was ready to halt any nuclear cooperation with Iran, Yeltsin dismissed his atomic energy minister, Viktor Mikhailov, one of his longest-serving Cabinet members and a strong supporter of nuclear cooperation with Iran. In a related development, Ukrainian officials last Friday canceled a $45 million deal to supply turbines for the Bushehr plant. A Yeltsin spokesman said Saturday the cancellation would not affect Russia’s plans to go ahead with building the plant.