By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that the six-nation negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme to be held in April would be the last chance for Tehran to prevent a US attack.
Clinton asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting in New York to relate this point to the Iranian authorities, Russia’s Kommersant daily said Wednesday.
Western nations have been putting pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, accusing the country of developing atomic weapons. Tehran has strongly denied all accusations, saying the programme was for energy purposes only.
The six-party talks involve US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany along with Iran.
An unnamed Russian diplomat told Kommersant that the US and Israel might attack Iran before the end of the year.
“Israelis are basically blackmailing Obama. He will either have to support the war, or lose the support,” the official said.
The paper said that although the official Russian diplomatic position was that the April meeting will not be the last chance as the US sees it, Russian authorities are nevertheless prepared for the possibility of war.
“We have counted our actions in case of war with Iran. We have mobilised our forces,” a defence ministry official told the daily on condition of anonymity.
The official also expressed concern that if a war breaks out, refugees would flow from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan, which would aggravate the volatile situation in the Caucasus region.