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Blix says Iraq agrees to inspections
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Moscow would be prepared to examine a new UN resolution on weapons inspections in Iraq if that should prove "necessary" in the light of a report by the head of weapons inspectors Dr Hans Blix, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today.
It is "too soon" to talk about Russia agreeing to a new UN resolution on Iraq, but "if that should prove necessary, we would be prepared to do so," Mr Ivanov told reporters after talks with his Austrian counterpart Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Dr Blix is due to report to the UN Security Council tomorrow on the agreement reached in Vienna this week with Iraq on the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq after a four-year absence.
Another permanent member of the UN Security Council, China, said all UN actions regarding Iraq should now focus on returning weapons inspectors there as soon as possible and not on any new resolution.
"At the moment, the priority is to let the United Nations weapons inspectors return to Iraq as soon as possible and smoothly carry out their work," the foreign ministry said.
As permanent members of the Security Council, Russia and China, like Britain, France and the United States, have veto power over any resolution.
Meanwhile, at a press conference in the Turkish capital, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said Iraq would not attack any nations in the region if the United States goes ahead with a strike against it.
"We are not going to retaliate against anybody in the region except the American aggressor who violates our territory," Mr Aziz said.
Israel in particular fears Iraqi missile strikes if US President George W. Bush opts for war to pursue his aim of ousting his Iraqi counterpart, Saddam Hussein, and ensuring Baghdad has no weapons of mass destruction.
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Mr Aziz rejected a US call for a new UN Security Council resolution on weapons inspections in Iraq, after Iraq and the United Nations reached a deal in Vienna on the resumption of inspections based on previous resolutions.
"This proposal of the United States is unacceptable," he said.
"The question of mass destruction weapons raised by the American state and Britain is a pretext to justify the unjustifiable aggression on Iraq.
"There is no need for a resolution .... The standing resolutions of the Security Council concerning the inspections are valid and they are enough for the perfect performance of the inspectors in their job," Mr Aziz said.
Chief UN weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix announced the deal last night. Inspectors were pulled out four years ago amid deadlock over the carrying out of their checks, and Dr Blix said that, as before, there would be restrictions on entering eight "presidential sites."
Iraqi delegation chief Amir El-Sadi said he expected weapons inspectors in Baghdad within two weeks.
Dr Blix was to report on the talks to the Security Council tomorrow and said he hoped inspectors would arrive "about the middle of October."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell rejected the deal and insisted there must be new resolutions that toughen the conditions for the inspections.
"I am convinced a new resolution is appropriate with tough consequences so we are not out here a year from now talking about this all over again," Mr Powell said. "Pressure works. We're going to keep it up."
Britain offered traditional support, with Prime Minister Tony Blair warning that the UN's authority was at stake.