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Chinese, Russian Stall Tactics on Iran

[Boston Globe] Joshua Gleis - Talks with Iran have reached another impasse as the Islamic regime rejected yet another package of incentives to end its nuclear enrichment program. One would think that the international community would be doing everything in its power to press Iran into accepting a compromise. Yet two countries - China and Russia - are not only undermining the effort, but are actually profiting from the rest of the world's sanctions. As European businesses pull their investments out of Iran, in line with current EU sanctions, the Chinese and Russians have been happily stepping in to fill those lucrative vacancies. In essence, they are reaping the benefits of other governments' efforts to stave off the disaster that a nuclear Iran would be. China and Russia may be enticed into supporting stronger sanctions against Iran if the U.S. and other parties in the negotiations can demonstrate the greater economic benefits available to them all once a deal with Tehran is reached. It is imperative that the Chinese and Russians understand they have much more to gain from an end to the conflict with Iran than they do from a complete meltdown. The writer is an international security associate at the Belfer Center at Harvard's Kennedy School and a visiting scholar at Columbia University.
2008-08-11 01:00:00
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