President Obama responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\’s claim that world powers gave Iran a \”freebie\” by agreeing to hold more talks.
Russia warned Israel on Wednesday that attacking Iran would be a disastrous and played down the failure of a U.N. nuclear agency mission to Tehran, saying there is still a chance for new talks over the Iranian atomic program.
Russia said global powers must work harder to win concessions from Iran over its nuclear program, warning that Tehran\’s desire for compromise is decreasing as it moves closer to being able to build atomic weapons.
An international Jewish organization of Russian-speaking Jews was launched to influence governments to join the fight against Iran. The World Forum of Russian Jewry was inaugurated Wednesday at the United Nations during a ceremony commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacres with the participation of nearly 600 American Russian-speaking Jews and Holocaust survivors.
Russia, which built Iran\’s first nuclear power station, said on Thursday it might help the Islamic Republic construct more atomic plants — dangling a carrot in front of Tehran amid tense diplomacy over its nuclear programme.
Russia urged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday to be \”more constructive\” when dealing with global powers on nuclear issues, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the leaders of the two countries met.
An Israeli strike on Iran\’s nuclear facilities could result in global catastrophe, Russia\’s president said.\n\nIn an interview Monday on \”Good Morning America,\” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is attending President Obama\’s Nuclear Security Summit this week, said, “Everyone is so close over there that nobody would be unaffected. And if conflict of that kind happens, and a strike is performed, then you can expect anything, including use of nuclear weapons,\” Medvedev said. \”And nuclear strikes in the Middle East, this means a global catastrophe.”
Russia denied that a cargo ship reportedly seized by pirates was carrying weapons bound for Iran.
When my friends Cami and Howard Gordon invited me to an informal dinner with guest speaker Natan Sharansky at their Pacific Palisades home, my first thought was, \”Oh, good, I get to see their new house.\”
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