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Publish date: February 13, 2008
News
Comments yesterday from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov seem to indicated Moscow is having a cathartic moment about having become the world’s biggest booster for Iranian nuclear technology
"We don’t approve of Iran’s permanent demonstration of its intentions to develop its rocket sector and continue to enrich uranium," Lavrov was quoted by the RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies as saying.
"It’s impossible to ignore the fact that problems with Iran’s nuclear programme have arisen in recent years. While they haven’t been resolved it would be better to refrain from actions that raise tensions and create the impression Iran is ignoring the international community," he said.
Lavrov, who was speaking en route from an EU-Russia meeting in Ljubljana, said it was necessary for all sides in talks on Iran to concentrate on resolving the matter at hand rather than being guided by "considerations connected to the political agenda of the day," ITAR-TASS reported.
Earlier this month Iran fired a rocket into space to mark the opening of its first space center, hailing the base’s inauguration as a step in its battle against what it sees as Western dominance.
Meanwhile Tehran has continued to enrich uranium, despite the fact that Russia has already shipped Iran all the uranium it needs to operate the Bushehr reactor on the Persian Gulf.
Western countries suspect that Iran’s stated aim of developing nuclear power may be a cover for an atomic weapons programme, something Tehran denies.
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.