Putin/Iran: I Expect to See A Lot On This the Coming Week

[Annie]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050227/ts_nm/nuclear_iran_usa_dc

Sen. McCain: Bar Russia from G8 Over Iran Deal

2 hours, 58 minutes ago
By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should seek to bar Russia from this year's major-nation summit to protest actions by Moscow including its deal Sunday to provide Iran (news - web sites) nuclear fuel, a leading Republican senator said.

"This latest step of the Russians vis-a-vis the Iranians calls for sterner measures to be taken between ourselves and Russia. It has got to, at some point, begin to harm our relations," Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona said on "Fox News Sunday."

Russia and Iran signed their nuclear-fuel supply deal in defiance of long U.S. opposition and only days after Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) and President Bush (news - web sites) met at a summit in Slovakia.

McCain accused Putin of carrying out "aberrational" policies and acting "like a spoiled child," not only in the Iran deal but in domestic policies that McCain said limited press freedom and tightened Kremlin control over Russian regions.

"The United States and our European allies should start out by saying, 'Vladimir, you're not welcome at the next G8 conference,"' said McCain, an influential member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites). The next summit of the Group of Eight major nations, which includes Russia, is scheduled for Scotland in July.

The White House had no immediate comment on the signing of the supply agreement. The United States believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and is concerned that by supplying Iran with fuel for a Russian-built nuclear reactor, Moscow could aid a weapons program.

Iran, rich in oil but struggling to provide power for a growing population, denies it is developing nuclear arms and says its program is solely for generating electricity...