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Obama Prods Russia On Iran

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The New York Times

Published: March 3, 2009

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama sent a secret letter to Russia's president last month suggesting he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, U.S. officials said Monday.

The letter to President Dmitri Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, which has been vehemently opposed by Russia since it was proposed by the Bush administration, if Iran halted any efforts to build nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

While they said it did not offer a direct quid pro quo, the letter was intended to give Moscow incentive to join the United States in a common front against Iran. Russia's military, diplomatic and commercial ties to Tehran give it some influence there, but it has often resisted Washington's hard line.

"It's almost saying to them put up or shut up," said a senior administration official. "It's not that the Russians get to say, 'We'll try and therefore you have to suspend.' It says the threat has to go away."

Moscow has not responded, but a Russian official said Monday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would have something to say on missile defense to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton when they meet Saturday in Geneva.

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