US's Rice fails to win Russia backing on Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed yesterday to win Russia's support for referring Iran to the UN Security Council should the Islamic republic refuse to resume talks over its suspected nuclear arms programmes.

Rice flew to Moscow on a surprise trip to press President Vladimir Putin to commit to backing a referral - and the potential for international sanctions - if Iran continues to defy the West, diplomats said.

But with Russia leery of punitive measures against a country it has strong commercial ties with, Putin was unmoved and reaffirmed Russia's position that the UN. nuclear watchdog agency should deal with Iran.

Rice acknowledged Putin did not change his mind and she settled instead for accepting Moscow's pledge to work on coaxing Iran back to the talks with the EU over curbing its programmes.

The United States won a resolution last month at the UN's 35-member International Atomic Energy Agency for Iran to be reported to the Council.

Russia abstained, no deadline was set and it is unclear how much international appetite there is for the move.

Russia was the second of three countries with Security Council vetoes where Rice was due to hold talks over three days in an effort to build support against Iran before a new vote next month.

Rice courted Putin by interrupting a previously scheduled trip to France and Britain in a gesture that played to Russia's sense of pride and reflected Washington's increasing awareness it needs its help on Iran.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the IAEA, which has been investigating Iran's programmes for almost three years, should be allowed longer to inspect its nuclear sites.

In an incident that seemed to match the gloom of the talks, Rice headed to the airport to fly to London and her limousine broke down, forcing her to swap cars in the rain.

Curbing Tehran's nuclear programmes is a top foreign policy priority for Rice due to American fears an Iranian A-bomb would threaten US allies across the Middle East.

Iran denies US charges it wants to build atomic bombs and says its programmes are aimed at the peaceful generation of electricity.

Faced with Russian intransigence, Rice, who later flew to London, indicated the United States would be patient.

But hardliners in the Bush administration seem impatient.

US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Iran had sought for 18 years to build a nuclear bomb and urged the international community to react.

"The real issue is whether an international community is going to accept an Iran that violates its treaty commitments... that lies about its programme and is determined to get nuclear weapons deliverable on ballistic missiles that it can then use to intimidate not only its own region but possibly to supply to terrorists," Bolton said.