WMD issue in Syria cannot be used in geopolitical games: Russia

Source : Xinhua

MOSCOW, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Syria is an issue not to be used for geopolitical purpose, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

"There are countries and external players who believe that all methods are good for overthrowing the Syrian regime. However, the issue of the use of weapons of mass destruction is too serious an we can't joke with it," Lavrov told reporters at a press conference.

Russia saw it "unacceptable" to use the WMD issue as a pretext of pursuing certain geopolitical interests, the diplomat said.

"I believe it is unacceptable to use it and speculate on it," he added.

U.S. officials said on Friday that they suspected the use of the deadly agent sarin in small-scale attacks in Syria. President Barack Obama warned Syria that using chemical weapons would be a "game changer." He also promised a "vigorous" U.S. and international probe into the latest reports.

Syria has denied the accusation. Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told Russian television Saturday that the U.S. and British accusations are a "barefaced lie."

Zoubi said Friday that Damascus would agree if inspections of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria are conducted by Russian experts.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that the UN team was ready to be deployed in 24-48 hours to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

According to Zoubi, the chemical shelling in the town of Khan al-Asal near Aleppo was fired by terrorists based near the Turkish border and the ammunition could be shipped from Turkey.

Editor: Hou Q

Iran denies plans to show nuclear sites to diplomats

Iran denies plans to show nuclear sites to diplomats

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran said on Tuesday it has no plans to show its nuclear sites to diplomats visiting Tehran for this week's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, contradicting an earlier offer by a deputy foreign minister. "We have no specific plans for a visit to Iran's nuclear installations by foreign guests participating in the summit of NAM member countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, state news agency IRNA reported. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh hinted on Monday that Iran might let visiting NAM diplomats tour the Parchin military base, which the U.N. nuclear watchdog says may have been used for nuclear-related explosives experiments.

Western diplomats had dismissed the tentative offer, made shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) again failed to gain access to Parchin for its inspectors at a meeting with an Iranian delegation in Vienna on Friday. "Any tour the Iranians conduct for visiting NAM officials would be nothing more than a very, very bad publicity stunt," a senior Western diplomat in Vienna told Reuters. "It is the IAEA that should have been given access to Parchin." Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the IAEA, reiterated his country's determination to keep enriching uranium. "We will not suspend enrichment for even one second," the Iranian Students' News Agency quoted him as saying.

> Enriched uranium can be used to fuel power stations, or, if processed further, for nuclear weapons. Akhoundzadeh also said on Monday that U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, due in Tehran for the NAM summit, might be able to visit Iran's atom sites. Ban's spokesman denied any such plan. Iran is hosting the NAM summit, which ends on Friday, at a time when the West is trying to isolate the Islamic Republic over suspicions it is seeking a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran says its atomic programme has only peaceful aims. The IAEA suspects that Iran has conducted explosives tests in a steel chamber at Parchin relevant for the development of nuclear weapons, possibly a decade ago, and that it may have tried to cleanse the site in recent months. (Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Alistair Lyon)