Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday warned against a U.S. military strike against Iran and invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to make a precedent-setting visit to Moscow — dealing another blow to U.S. hopes of isolating the regime in Tehran.
Mr. Putin issued the invitation on the sidelines of a summit in Tehran of the five nations bordering the Caspian Sea.
His trip to the Iranian capital was the first by a Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin visited there in 1943 to participate in an Allied conference to plan for a postwar world.
In a final declaration, the Caspian nations backed Mr. Putin’s call, saying “under no circumstances will they allow [the use of their] territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states.”
The participants also backed the rights of signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty — which includes Iran — to develop peaceful nuclear energy.
Mr. Putin met with the leaders of Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
The pro-regime Iran News newspaper said Mr. Putin’s decision to come to Tehran was a symbol of crumbling international support for the U.S.-led policy to contain Iran.
“The mere fact of Putin’s presence on Iranian soil is evidence that the West’s policy of isolation is a failure and can be interpreted as a victory of Iranian diplomacy,” the newspaper crowed in a commentary.
Mr. Ahmadinejad has conducted aggressive diplomatic moves to frustrate U.S. aims, seeking allies and striking deals both with governments such as Cuba and Venezuela that are hostile to the United States and with some traditional U.S. allies.
In recent months, Mr. Ahmadinejad has announced investment, trade and infrastructure deals both with leftist governments in Venezuela and Bolivia and with more U.S.-friendly governments in Turkey, Afghanistan and India.
The United States, accusing Iran of fueling the insurgency in Iraq and secretly seeking nuclear weapons, has refused to rule out military action against Iran. But Mr. Putin said yesterday that the summit countries — including Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan — should refuse to cooperate in any strike.
“It is important … that we not do not even think about the possibility of using force,” Mr. Putin told reporters. “It is also important that we talk about the impossibility of using our territory for other countries to carry out aggression or military action against other Caspian coastal states.”
The United States has led the campaign to isolate Iran over its nuclear programs, pushing for a new round of U.N. sanctions and pressuring international banks that finance Iranian investment deals.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a visit to Moscow last week, warned that countries and companies face “reputational and investment risk by doing business with Iran.”
But the Caspian summit — and Mr. Putin’s personal involvement — were just the latest cracks in the front.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said yesterday that the U.S. government was urging countries with extensive commercial and diplomatic links to Iran to use those ties to pressure Tehran.
“I don’t think there’s anything in President Putin attending a regional leaders’ meeting on the Caspian Basin that calls into question the basic facts of Iran’s increased estrangement from the international community,” Mr. Casey said.
Mr. Putin did not offer a date for Mr. Ahmadinejad’s Moscow trip, but a leading Russian business group announced this week it will host an “Iran Economic Day” next week in Moscow to match up Russian and Iranian companies on trade and investment ventures.
The Bush administration has claimed some success in persuading international banks to pull out of Iran. France under President Nicolas Sarkozy has also moved closer to the American position, leading a charge for tougher sanctions within the European Union.
While in Tehran, Mr. Putin sidestepped questions about Russia’s commitment to finish a major nuclear power plant at the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr. Washington strongly opposes the project, citing Iran’s suspect nuclear record.
Russia has repeatedly delayed the completion of the reactor, citing financial and technical hurdles. Mr. Putin again vowed to complete the project but coyly refused to say when.
“I only gave promises to my mother when I was a small boy,” he said.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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