World Tribune.com
Saint-Gaudens

Strategist warns Putin against arming Cold War allies

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, March 15, 2001

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warned that his policy of aiding Iran's missile and nuclear programs could backfire.

In an unusual departure, a senior parliamentarian and strategist asserted that Iran could use the missile and nuclear technology to threaten Moscow within 15 years. The parliamentarian warned against what he termed was Putin's strategy of helping such U.S. rivals as China, Iran, Libya, North Korea and Pakistan.

Alexei Arbatov, deputy chairman of the Duma's Defense Committee, told a news conference that Putin has again pursued the interests of the former Soviet Union in developing relations with such countries Iraq, Libya, and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Arbatov raised the prospect that Russian technology could help produce an Islamic bomb that might be supplied to insurgents fighting Moscow. The Russian army is dealing with such an insurgency in Chechnya, which he said is being given increasingly rhetorical support by Teheran.

"I would advise him to be very careful in our military-technical cooperation with such countries as China and Iran," Arbatov said.

"We should deliver weapons to them. This is commercially beneficial and it promotes our partnership, but we shouldn't deliver systems that will lend a marked offensive character to their armed forces because we can never tell whether that potential would not be directed against us in 10 to 15 years time."

On Monday, Putin signed military and nuclear cooperation agreements with Iranian President Mohammed Khatami in what officials said will accelerate plans to sell conventional weapons and technology to Teheran. The Russian president said Moscow plans to sell defensive weapons to Teheran. But he would not elaborate.

For his part, Arbatov, deputy chief of parliament's defense committee, said Moscow's Muslim clients could end up using weapons against Russia. Arbatov identified Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and raised the prospect that the Saudis could sell the ruling Afghan Taliban movement missiles and even weapons of mass destruction over the next decade.

Thursday, March 15, 2001

Subscribe to World Tribune.com's Daily Headline Alert
One-stop shopping for world news
Click Above To Subscribe

Return toWorld Tribune.com Front Cover
Your window on the world

Contact World Tribune.com at world@worldtribune.com