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© 2005
McGehee
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Apocalypse Now
Shawn Macomber
A recent almost-entirely buried story found in Russia’s Regions news service detailed an accident on the road between Moscow and Obninsk that injured eight Iranian citizens. Five were critically hurt and brought to a hospital, while the others were treated on the scene in the village of Seliatino.
After this initial report any information about the Iranians and their business in Russia quickly dried up. Of course, it is possible they were simply roaming the countryside hawking Persian rugs or some other handicraft. The Iranians destination, however, makes that explanation seem exceedingly unlikely.
Obninsk—a former “closed city” under communist rule—is one of Russia’s major nuclear research and training centers, and an area where the United States’ scandalously mismanaged Cooperative Threat Reduction program is active. It was home to one of the Soviet Union’s first nuclear reactors and continues to be a well-known center for the study of nuclear physics. It’s a subject Iran has taken a keen interest in of late.
This little-reported incident is a useful reminder that even in the midst of the jubilation over Iraqi elections the specter of something darker hangs on the horizon. Despite the vociferous protests of the Bush administration, Russia has ratcheted up its efforts to make a nuclear Iran a reality in the near term.
» Read the rest.
Along with Bush’s unfortunate trust of Vicente Fox, he can be rightly criticized for having placed too much trust in Vladimir Putin.
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