Russia taking the lead position regarding the Middle East......
http://www.debka.com/article/23056/Lavrov-Iran-agrees-to-halt-20-percent-uranium-enrichment-West-must-lift-sanctions
Lavrov explained persuasively in his message: “For the first time in many years, there are encouraging signs in the process of settlement of the situation with the Iranian nuclear program. It would be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity.”
The Russian foreign minister’s move ties in with two other developments – one at the two-day G8 summit ending Tuesday in Northern Ireland and the other in Tehran:
DEBKAfile: The Syrian conflict and the nuclear controversy with Iran have long been closely intertwined.
2. Moscow tried to put a positive slant on President-Elect Rouhani’s negative statement at his first news conference Monday, when he said Tehran “would not consider halting the country’s uranium enrichment activities entirely.”
http://www.debka.com/article/23056/Lavrov-Iran-agrees-to-halt-20-percent-uranium-enrichment-West-must-lift-sanctions
Iran has confirmed it is prepared to halt its enrichment of 20-percent uranium, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported on the ministry website Tuesday, June 18. He urged Western nations to reciprocate by lifting sanctions. DEBKAfile: It was not clear whether this was a temporary suspension, an absolute halt – or a dodge for getting sanctions eased to enable the incoming Iranian president Hassan Rouhaini get to grips with his top priority, his country’s dire economic straits..
Lavrov explained persuasively in his message: “For the first time in many years, there are encouraging signs in the process of settlement of the situation with the Iranian nuclear program. It would be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity.”
He called Tehran’s concession “a breakthrough agreement, significantly alleviating existing problems, including concerns about the possibility of advanced uranium enrichment to a weapons-grade level.”
Lavrov urged the international community “to adequately respond to the constructive progress made by Iran, including gradual suspension and lifting of sanctions, both unilateral and those introduced by the UN Security Council.”
The Russian foreign minister’s move ties in with two other developments – one at the two-day G8 summit ending Tuesday in Northern Ireland and the other in Tehran:
1. The Group of Eight was about to wind up its summit Tuesday evening by issuing a joint communiqué – over President Vladimir Putin’s objections – calling for a transition government in Damascus and Bashar Assad’s removal from power. Lavrov’s message from Tehran sought to persuade the Western powers, chiefly President Barack Obama, that they would be missing the chance of a nuclear settlement with Iran, because Tehran would never countenance Assad’s ouster.
DEBKAfile: The Syrian conflict and the nuclear controversy with Iran have long been closely intertwined.
2. Moscow tried to put a positive slant on President-Elect Rouhani’s negative statement at his first news conference Monday, when he said Tehran “would not consider halting the country’s uranium enrichment activities entirely.”
What he meant, Lavrov hinted, was that Iran would not abandon low-level 5.3 percent enrichment - only the 20 percent grade which brought its nuclear program close to a weapons-grade capacity.
The Russian minister’s comment about it being “a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity” was addressed to Jerusalem.
The Russian minister’s comment about it being “a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity” was addressed to Jerusalem.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that, two years ago, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and defense minister at the time, Ehud Barak, came to a secret agreement with the Obama administration that if Tehran stopped the 20-percent enrichment of uranium and shut down its underground enrichment plant at Fordo, Israel would have no objections to Iran carrying on producing uranium refined to the 5.3 percent level.
Israel revoked this deal at the end of 2012 when Iran began massively accelerating its enrichment activities and accumulated enough 5.3 percent material for a rapid switch to 20-percent enriched uranium.
Putin: Didn’t feel isolated, not all G8 leaders agree Assad used chemical weapons
Published time: June 18, 2013 15:12
Edited time: June 18, 2013 21:47
Edited time: June 18, 2013 21:47
There is no proof that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the G8 summit. Some of the G8 countries share this view, he added.
“We do not have any facts of the use of such weapons by the Syrian government. I assure you, that by no means all the G8 members believe that they were used,” Putin said.
The Russian President stressed he “never felt isolated” at the summit despite the difference in views, and said the G8 leaders have been seeking a common solution to the Syrian conflict.
Supplying arms to the rebels based on unconfirmed reports that chemical weapons were used by the Assad government would further destabilize Syria, Putin warned.
Putin urged Western nations not to be hasty in arming the Syrian opposition, saying that such weapons could fall into the wrong hands, or be uncontrollable.
“I call on all our partners to think twice before making such steps. It is a very dangerous stuff,” the Russian president said, pointing to the “horrible” and “tragic” Woolwich murder.
There are “loads of such criminals fighting for the [Syrian] opposition, who could commit a brutal murder like this,” he stressed.
However, Putin did not rule out Russia signing new arms contracts with the Syrian government. The Russian president stressed that all such contracts comport with international law: “We are supplying arms under legal contracts to the legitimate government. It is the government of the President Assad. And if we are going to make such contracts, then we will deliver.”
Russia and the United States will spearhead the development of a peace plan for Syria, Putin said.
The G8 countries have agreed that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the US Secretary of State John Kerry will take on “main role and the main burden of responsibility” for working out the principles of the solution to the crisis, he added.
Tuesday’s communique by the G8 nations calling for an end to the fighting in Syria represents a “much better outcome” than was expected, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
Harper also apparently changed his view on Russia’s role in Syrian conflict talks, saying there has been“a very significant move on the part of Mr. Putin and the Russians.”
Massive explosion in Russia today ! Coincidence , if there is such a thing ?
Russia blast: Multiple explosions rock arsenal storing ‘13mln’ shells, hundreds fight blaze
Published time: June 18, 2013 17:11
Edited time: June 18, 2013 22:18
Edited time: June 18, 2013 22:18
Large explosions rock an ammunition depot in Russia’s Samara Region, where over 13 million shells are stored. Over 500 firefighters are combatting the blaze triggered by blasts, while dozens of residents in nearby communities have sought medical help.
Local authorities have introduced a state of emergency as multiple artillery shells have exploded, and are expected to continue, at an ammunition depot near the city of Chapaevsk.
“It is still not possible to halt the self-destruction, or to enter the firing grounds,” a local police spokesman told RIA, saying that the shell shards are scattering in such a large area that there is no way the fire brigade could safely reach and extinguish the fire.
According to the Chief Directorate of the Interior Ministry for Samara Region spokesman Sergey Goldstein, there are “13 million shell units” at the ammunition depot, Interfax reports.
Almost 6,000 of these munitions stored on the open ground are 122-millimeter shells with an effective bursting radius of 1 kilometer, while the rest are 23- and 30-mm antiaircraft shells, according to the Emergencies Ministry. The facility also has a number of 80mm rocket launcher shots, but they are stored in a separate, safe depot, the source added.
Between three and eight people are believed to still be on the grounds of the ammunition depot, a representative from Russia’s Investigative Committee told Ria Novosti.
Police have cordoned off the area. At least 6,000 people from the nearby community have been evacuated to safety, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.
11 people have been hospitalized as a result of the blasts, a source in emergency response team told RIA.
Earlier reports said that 34 people have sought medical attention in connection with the incident in Chapaevsk, according to Russian Health Ministry spokesman Oleg Salagay.
Local authorities are warning the residents of Chapaevsk not to enter the area of the blasts, and have sealed off the roads leading to the arsenal. There are some 74,000 people living in Chapaevsk just 15 kilometers from the area of the incident.
The Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies is sending two planes with robot-equipped bomb-disposal experts to Chapaevsk, reports Itar-Tass.
“Chapaevsk is covered by smoke. The shells are exploding at a military depot in Nagorny community. The federal highway has been blocked,” the city resident @andygoalkeeper posts on Twitter.
‘Fire could last for 3 days’
More than 500 firefighters with 100 units of equipment are fighting the blaze at the site of the incident, Ministry of Emergencies said. Their numbers are building up, it added.
Meanwhile, officials say that the fire and the blasts could last for up to three days.
“The munitions, which are piled in stacks, keep exploding. According to experts’ estimates, the fire at the shooting ground could last for 2-3 days,” a law enforcement source told RIA.
Aleksey Kochkin of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has confirmed that the blaze could endure for up to three days “in a worst case scenario,” citing similar emergencies.
Ammunition depot explosions are not a rare occurrence in the Russian Federation. Over the last three years, more than a dozen explosions have shocked the nation taking the lives of both civilians and military personnel.
The tragic highlights include July 2010 in the Altai region where 6 people died from explosions including 4 civilians. In April 2011, an explosion at a military warehouse claimed the lives of four civilians employed by the Defense Ministry. In the Russian Udmurt region, a blast in June 2011 killed 7 soldiers and wounded more than 100 people.
Last year alone ten incidents have lit up the skies. The most tragic ones include an explosion in May 2012 in which 6 people died and four were injured. The accident in the Nizhny Novgorod region was followed by an explosion, two weeks lateer in the Far East in which two people died. In September, while dismantling the ammunition, an explosion claimed the life of one soldier in the Orenburg region.
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