Bush Inherits Iranian Missiles

According to a report in the World Tribune:

One of the unresolved sleeper issues left over for President-elect George W. Bush from the eight years of Clinton-Gore administration will be how to cope with Russian-assisted development of powerful nuclear-tip Iranian missiles with long-range capability.

The sobering prospect was highlighted by the resumption this week of Russian visitations to Tehran, headed by Yuri Kapralov, director of the security and disarmament department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The purpose of the high-level meetings: secretive discussions of not whether but what sensitive missile and nuclear technology Moscow will furnish to Iran.

On Iran's wish list is Russian technology that can be used for nuclear weapons.

Iran has already been receiving technical help and supplies from Communist China and Communist North Korea for production of its state-of-the-art Shihab series of long-range as well as intermediate-range missiles.

With a recent reduction in Communist Chinese missile assistance, Russia has stepped in to fill that gap.

China's cutback "may slow down some aspects of the Iranian missile program, but the continuation toward achievement of Shihab-3, 4 and 5 is still very much on track, thanks to the Russians," said United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Richard Roth.

Geoffrey Kemp, a senior aide on Middle East policy who served in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, is convinced Iran will acquire long-range missiles – especially because he also expects China to resume its missile sales to Tehran.

"We're going to have to live with them," Kemp said. "U.S.-China relations are going to be a red-button issue for the coming administration, and China has growing interests and energy needs from the Middle East.

"So [an Iranian missile] is a sleeper issue that we should bear in mind for the future."

To date, the Clinton-Gore administration has been unable to persuade Russia to restrict its weapons technology going to Iran.

American and Russian military chiefs have been conferring this week in Moscow about the Iranian arms issue. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will meet later this month on the same subject.

Then it will be up to the Bush-Cheney administration to try its hand at stopping or at least slowing down the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.