From the Australian:A SERIOUS rift opened yesterday between Russia and the West over Iran's nuclear program after Moscow floated a last-minute plan to allow Tehran to make small quantities of nuclear fuel.
The New York Times reported that the proposal prompted US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to telephone International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed ElBaradei to make clear that Washington could not support the Russian plan.
Dr Rice's call came after Dr ElBaradei suggested to reporters that the standoff with Iran could be resolved in a week or so.
The nuclear watchdog chief did not elaborate on his comment but his optimism was believed to be linked to the confidential Russian proposal to allow Iran to enrich some uranium domestically.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Dr Rice in Washington on Monday evening and is scheduled to meet President George W. Bush in the Oval Office overnight.
US officials fear Moscow's plan was intended to slow down the process that would lead to the UN nuclear watchdog referring Iran to the Security Council.
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns underlined Washington's determination, saying that "unless Iran does a dramatic about-face" he expected the issue to be taken up by the Security Council.
"The United States will not support any halfway measures," Mr Burns said.
Russia is playing its cute little relevance game again. Look, we may not have had to go so long in Iraq if people like Russia and China would have put aside their pettiness and stood with us in pushing for a multinational solution by the UN. No, it seems Russia has learned nothing since the fall of communism. They are still selling out their allies. Seems Putin is more Stalin than anyone thought he was.
