MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Russia is intensifying efforts to sell weapons to Iran as international pressure on Iran rises over its nuclear programs.
The business daily Kommersant quoted a source speaking on condition of anonymity, who said that Russia "has stepped up military-technological cooperation with Tehran."
Kommersant said top Russian military-industrial complex official decided to concentrate on Iranian arms sales for two reasons: "Firstly, as many weapons as possible must be sold to Iran before an international embargo against this country comes into force." The second point made by Kommersant is that should the Bush administration decide to go to war against Iran, the Kremlin wants Iran to be well-armed to ensure that the U.S. military gets as bogged down there as they already are in Iraq or worse.
The Kommersant report comes in the wake of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) formally finding Iran violating its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations, a decision that the Bush administration lauded as a "significant step forward" in bringing Iran before the U.N. Security Council.
