Russia Ratifies Partnership with Iran

Voice of America, December 27, 2001

Russia's upper house of parliament, or Federation Council, unanimously ratified a new partnership treaty with Iran Wednesday.

The treaty focuses on cooperation in the military-technological area and the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Khatami, signed the agreement in March in Moscow.

The Duma, or lower house, ratified the treaty last week. Before the vote, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told the chamber that relations between Moscow and Tehran have entered a new era.

Russia has a huge contract to build a nuclear power plant at Bushehr in southern Iran, due to be completed in 2005. The United States and other countries have tried to persuade Moscow to abandon the deal. They fear that Iran could use the technology to develop nuclear weapons.

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