Even the Russians know better when dealing with Iran, and now the region is a melting pot getting ready to explode. The article makes it seem like finances were at the center of a hastened Russian expert purge, but I have other theories.
I think the Russians have credible reasons to believe a U.S.-led attack is almost guaranteed to happen before Bush's term ends. I also wonder if Russia is under strong pressure from the U.S. State Dept. to pull out and not play ball with Iran anymore; basically the old "pulling out to save face" scenario as in alienating Russian/U.S. ties would have huge financial/diplomatic costs for both countries.
Russia could also be using the reactor construction suspension as a tool for leverage at the U.N., but I'm still not sure why they would chose this play. The Russians stand to make a mint off building reactors for other countries, and they already wield tremendous influence at the U.N., so they don't really need this diplomatic crutch.
The final and strongest theory is that Russia has good, verified intelligence that Israel is going to turn the site into a pile of rubble in the very near future. This scenario seems the most likely as Bush's team seems unwilling to start another war with Iraq falling to shreds and Israel willing to pull the trigger at a moment's notice. This would make a ton of sense. Russia would be protecting its intellectual assets and moving them out of harm's way.
If you knew that either G.W. or the Israeli air-force was coming , wouldn't you?
Russia reportedly exits Iran nuke site - Yahoo! News
Another blog post by: Politicalcorrectness?
Technorati Tags: Russia reportedly exits Iran nuke site , Rosatom, Israel, Russia, nuclear, nuclear reactor, Bushehr plant, Iran, Tehran,
I think the Russians have credible reasons to believe a U.S.-led attack is almost guaranteed to happen before Bush's term ends. I also wonder if Russia is under strong pressure from the U.S. State Dept. to pull out and not play ball with Iran anymore; basically the old "pulling out to save face" scenario as in alienating Russian/U.S. ties would have huge financial/diplomatic costs for both countries.
Russia could also be using the reactor construction suspension as a tool for leverage at the U.N., but I'm still not sure why they would chose this play. The Russians stand to make a mint off building reactors for other countries, and they already wield tremendous influence at the U.N., so they don't really need this diplomatic crutch.
The final and strongest theory is that Russia has good, verified intelligence that Israel is going to turn the site into a pile of rubble in the very near future. This scenario seems the most likely as Bush's team seems unwilling to start another war with Iraq falling to shreds and Israel willing to pull the trigger at a moment's notice. This would make a ton of sense. Russia would be protecting its intellectual assets and moving them out of harm's way.
If you knew that either G.W. or the Israeli air-force was coming , wouldn't you?
Russia reportedly exits Iran nuke site - Yahoo! News
Russia is pulling out its experts from the Iranian nuclear reactor site they were helping build, U.S. and European officials said Tuesday. The move reflected a growing rift between Iran and Russia that could lead to harsher U.N. sanctions on the Islamic republic for its refusal to stop uranium enrichment.
The representatives — a European diplomat and a U.S. official — said a large number of Russian technicians, engineers and other specialists have returned to Moscow in the past week, at about the same time senior Russian and Iranian officials tried unsuccessfully to resolve financial differences over the Bushehr nuclear reactor.
Another blog post by: Politicalcorrectness?
Technorati Tags: Russia reportedly exits Iran nuke site , Rosatom, Israel, Russia, nuclear, nuclear reactor, Bushehr plant, Iran, Tehran,
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