NYT: Russia Gives Ultimatum To Iran

Here is the article, if you can believe the NYT, that is.

Russia has informed Iran that it will withhold nuclear fuel for Iran’s nearly completed Bushehr power plant unless Iran suspends its uranium enrichment as demanded by the United Nations Security Council, European, American and Iranian officials said.

The ultimatum was delivered in Moscow last week by Igor Ivanov, Russia’s Security Council Secretary, to Ali Hosseini Tash, Iran’s deputy chief nuclear negotiator, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a confidential diplomatic exchange between two governments was involved.

As of this writing, this is the only article I have found on this particular development. But if it's accurate, others will most certainly follow suit and validate this information. If it's true, this is a significant development in the process. Because without help from those that can best help, there is little leverage that can be used against the Iranians.

If this pans out as a verifiable story, it could signal a shift in U.S./Russia relations, depending on what has been offered them. As is always the case with these hot stories being broken by publications that are losing more and more sales as time passes on, one must be suspicious. There is great cause for both skepticism and cynicism, as the two often go hand-in-hand in these kinds of situations.

But more than anything, I hope it's true and applaud the Russians, if it is.


Addendum: Maybe this will go to show, this was the right choice after all.