Iran

Here's a headline for you.

EU hopes for further Iran dialogue.

Is that because all the other dialogue has gone so well?

European diplomats acknowledge they are constrained by Russia’s continuing resistance to sanctions, since Moscow wields a Security Council veto.

On Friday, Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s defence minister, said the situation “was not so serious at the moment for the UN Security Council...to consider any introduction of sanctions”.

I suspect there is a money situation in there somewhere. Russia has yet to come up with an alternative to this plan of sanctions. I understand, they don't usually work, blah, blah, blah. So what is the alternative. The UN Security council wants Iran to do X. Iran doesn't want to do X. The UN Security council has certain things it can do in response. 1- pass a resolution. 2- start a war 3-try some sanctions 4- keep "talking" (though Scott makes a good point about talking with the insane.)

This poll out of Mosnews shows that most Russians don't want to go the sanction route either.

In analyzing the data, the organization was able to make many wide-ranging, if general, assertions. While Russia and the United States are in unison on some important issues, they differ greatly on others. While they both had negative views of Iran’s nuclear program, they disagreed on the use and effectiveness of economic and military sanctions. While they agreed on the role of the United Nations in discouraging nuclear proliferation, they held very different views towards China, as well as each other’s role in the world.

We all know about polls and there was no follow up as to what the answer should be if not sanctions, but......
In the meantime, this story out of Russian concerns our sanctions on two of their businesses due to suspected arms sales to Iran. It's bizarre. And short, so read it. It sounds to me like they think the sanctions are warranted and legal but that they should get out of it.

RFE/RL’s Russian Service spoke with Nikolai Zlobin, the director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Washington-based Center for Defense Information, about the U.S. sanctions.

Is there any foundation behind the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on Rosoboroneksport and Sukhoi?

Nikolai Zlobin: I think that, of course, the motivation is serious. The Americans usually act on the basis of laws and facts and evidence. Of course, they might choose not to use these facts and evidence, but I have no doubt that their decision has a logical basis. From a purely legal point of view, it won’t be possible to contest this decision. You can contest it at the political level, but from the economic and legal points of view, I’m sure that everything has been thought through. The Americans usually think about these things carefully and don’t make mistakes.

Whenever you REALLY start to want to give up on all US press, just read the stuff out of Russia and China.