A top Pentagon general was expected Tuesday in Moscow to quiz senior Russian defense officials over Moscow's plans to resume arms sales to Iran in defiance of US threats of sanctions.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Henry H. Shelton was scheduled to hold talks with Russia's chief of staff General Anatoly Kvashnin and other officials, a US embassy spokesman told AFP.
Last week the Russian army's second-in-command dismissed as "unacceptable" US threats to slap economic sanctions against Russia should it resume military cooperation with Iran in violation of a secret 1995 agreement.
General Valery Manilov added that the resumption of military ties with Iran "fully reflects Russia's international commitments" and would not contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as Washington fears.
Moscow last month announced it was scrapping a five-year-old agreement with Washington banning conventional arms sales to Iran, a decision that prompted a White House warning that trade ties could suffer as a result.
Iran, seen as a "rogue state" by the United States, is on a State Department list of nations supporting terrorism which also includes North Korea, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria.
Russia had agreed to finish all scheduled exports of tanks, armored personnel carriers and even a Kilo-class attack submarine by December 31, 1999, and not to enter into new contracts.
US defense experts came last week to Moscow to probe their Russian counterparts about the precise form of military cooperation to be restored with Tehran.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher described the talks as "full, frank and comprehensive."
The renewal of military cooperation will yield up to seven billion dollars over the next few years, according to the head of Russia's parliamentary commission on defense, Andrei Nikolayev.
However, commentators in Moscow have questioned whether Russia was prepared to jeopardize its already-strained relations with the United States by supplying Iran with heavy weaponry -- MOSCOW (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
