Barak's win nixes Israel-Russia accord on Iran
By Steve Rodan
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, June 14, 1999
OMSK, Russia -- A Russian-Israeli panel aimed at ensuring the
halt in
Russian missile and nuclear arms technology to Iran has been shelved,
diplomats and officials said.
They said the panel, agreed upon during the April visit to Moscow by
then-Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon was never formed. The panel
was
to have been part of an intense six-month effort by Russia and Israel to
stop unauthorized military technology transfers by Russian companies to
Teheran.
"The election in Israel just stopped everything," a diplomat said.
"Everybody seems to have forgotten about it."
Details of the panel remain sketchy. Formally, the Russian Foreign
Ministry never acknowledged the panel although officials acknowledge
that
Sharon was told by his Russian counterpart, Ivan Ivanov, that Moscow
would
do its best to stop the unauthorized transfer of military technology to
Iran.
Lt-Gen.Viktor Kurnakhov, head of the information and technology
department of the FSB, the Russian domestic intelligence agency, told
MENL
during the Omsk arms exhibition, which ended on Saturday, that his
organization continues to fight unauthorized military technology
transfers.
But he could not provide details or any recent efforts.
Kurnakhov also did not acknowledge any special effort being made to
stop
technology transfers to Iran. "It's not our task to control or
interfere,"
he said. "There are other organizations that do this."
The FSB official said his agency continued to fight industrial
espionage
and terrorism in Russia. This, he said, involved coordination with other
members of the former Soviet Union.
In April, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu
termed the establishment of the technology control panel as a turning
point
in Russian-Israeli relations. Officials said Russia was promised
numerous
incentives to stop aiding Iran's Shihab-3 program as well as suspected
efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
These incentives included Israeli joint ventures with Russia's
military
and space industry as well as investments in Russian companies.
But Israeli diplomatic sources are concerned that the election of
Ehud
Barak as Israel's new prime minister will lead to U.S. pressure to stop
closer ties between Israel and Russia. The sources said the last few
months
of Netanyahu's regime marked a genuine attempt to launch strategic
cooperation between Israel and Russia.
"This was not electioneering," an Israeli diplomat said. "But
there's no
question that the government never had the time to implement anything
real
before the elections."
For their part, Russian diplomats are confident that their relations
with Israel will not cool under Barak. They said Barak recognizes the
value
of Russia despite his close ties to Washington.
Monday, June 14, 1999
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