Abraham Foxman said he sees a softening in Russia’s position regarding the Iranian nuclear threat.
The Anti-Defamation League’s national director, following meetings last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, said he believes Russia will be more willing to cooperate on the increasing crisis.
“Before it was black and white,” said Foxman, who also met with Lavrov last year. “I think there’s a greater appreciation of the greater threat of the possibility of a nuclear Iran.”
Russia, which is building a nuclear reactor in Bushehr, has defied U.S. and European Union efforts to place stricter sanctions against Iran. While the U.S. and European powers believe Iran is developing a weapons program, Russia disputes that conclusion based on what it sees as a lack of hard evidence.
“What we found is that they’re willing to test Iran, but with parameters,” Foxman told JTA. “There are lines they are drawing.”
While Foxman said the Russian government did discuss concrete measures it was willing to take should Iran continue to defy U.N. sanctions, he would not comment specifically on them.
