Obama Hints at Deal With Russia Over Iran

Barack Obama yesterday opened the prospect of a deal with Russia on the contentious US missile defence system in Europe in return for Moscow's help in resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis.

Obama sent a conciliatory letter to the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, last month, hand-delivered by US officials based in Moscow, it emerged on Monday.

The contents remain private but officials in both countries said Obama offered to begin a new relationship after the difficult Bush years. Medvedev yesterday described the letter as a positive signal and said he hoped it might lead to agreements.

Reports in the Russian and US media said the letter contained specific proposals to drop the missile defence system, vehemently opposed by Moscow, as a quid pro quo for help with Iran.

Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Gordon Brown yesterday, Obama said the reports were inaccurate.

But he went on to say: "What I said in the letter was that, obviously, to the extent that we are lessening Iran's commitment to nuclear weapons, then that reduces the pressure for, or the need for, a missile defence system."

The US and Europe claim Iran is getting closer to achieving a nuclear weapons capability, a charge that Tehran denies, and want Russia to join them in imposing tougher sanctions.

But Russia has resisted such sanctions. Relations between Moscow and Washington have been soured by a US plan to put the missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Washington says it is for protection against an Iranian attack; Moscow says it is aimed at Russia.

Medvedev, on a visit to Madrid yesterday, confirmed he had received Obama's letter and welcomed the "positive signals" coming from the new administration.

He hoped to reach "agreements" but, like Obama, denied there were any quid pro quos, insisting that missile defence and Iran were separate issues.

Asked at a press conference about Obama's letter, Medvedev said: "If we are talking about any 'swaps' [Iran for missile defence], this is not how the question is being put. This wouldn't be productive."

He added, however, that the Kremlin was working closely with the Obama administration on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear programme.

"If the new administration shows common sense and offers a new [missile defence] structure which would satisfy European [needs] ... and would be acceptable for us, we are ready to discuss it."

Medvedev added: "I count on positive signals we are now receiving from Washington translating into agreements."

Natalya Timakova, Medvedev's press secretary, said the Russian leader appreciated the positive spirit of the message. "Obama's letter contains various proposals and assessments of the current situation. But the message did not contain any specific proposals or mutually binding initiatives," Timakova said.

Medvedev is planning to issue an invitation to Obama to visit Russia at the G20 summit in London next month.

The US is still reviewing its policy towards Iran, but what is evolving is a combination of an offer to Tehran to negotiate directly with Washington combined with a threat of greater economic sanctions.

John Kerry, the Democratic chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said yesterday at a hearing on Iran that direct US talks with Tehran would be a good starting point but warned that it would not be enough. The US would have to go into talks from a position of strength and not allow Iran to draw out negotiations.

"We need to set a timetable for substantive progress. And we need to make sure that Iran's leaders understand that the full weight of the international community will come down on them if this issue is not resolved," said Kerry. "And by full weight I mean tougher economic sanctions, further restrictions on trade and finance, which will apply meaningful pressure on the Iranian regime at a time when oil prices have plummeted and its economy is hurting."

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said she planned to discuss the missile defence system when she meets the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva on Friday.

Clinton, interviewed on MSNBC yesterday, sounded less conciliatory than Obama, saying that even if Iran had no nuclear weapons, its conventional weapons would pose a threat and justified the need for the missile defence system