Russia: Iran's noncooperation 'very alarming'

Russia's foreign minister says he is "very alarmed" over Iran's failure to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.

Sergey Lavrov spoke on the independent-leaning Ekho Mosvky radio station in an interview Friday.

He said "we are very alarmed, and we cannot accept that Iran is refusing to cooperate" with the global nuclear oversight body, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Lavrov said he did not understand the need for Iran to conduct its nuclear program in secret, withholding information from the IAEA.

Hillary Clinton warned of an arms race if Iran acquires a nuclear bomb

If Iran acquires a nuclear device it could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, which would create "dangerous" problems in the region.

"Everyone who I speak with in the Gulf, including the leaders here and leaders elsewhere in the region, are expressing deep concern about Iran's intentions," she said, calling Iran "the largest supporter of terrorism in the world today."


If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, she said, the hope of a nuclear-free Middle East disappears "because then other countries which feel threatened by Iran will say to themselves, 'If Iran has a nuclear weapon, I better get one, too, in order to protect my people.'
"Then you have a nuclear arms race in the region," she said.

Netanyahu told Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Monday that if Iran managed to develop nuclear weapons, the rest of the Muslim world would follow suit, as Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia would soon begin their own nuclear programs, an Israeli official told Reuters.

Iran is becoming a military dictatorship

"Even today, in 2010, women are still targets of violence," she said Sunday. "And all too often, religion might be used to justify it. But there is never a justification for violence against women. It is not cultural. It is criminal. And it is up to religious leaders to take a stand for women, to call for an end to honor killings, child marriages, domestic and gender-based violence."

India has a "stake" in Afghanistan: NATO chief

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Rasmussen said that a key lesson of the alliance's troubled mission in Afghanistan is that NATO "needs an entirely new compact between all the actors on the security stage."


He noted that in an age of global insecurity, the threats to Europe and North America, including terrorism, cyber attacks, energy cut-offs, piracy and climate change, come from far beyond NATO borders.


Thus, Rasmussen said that NATO should become "the hub of a network of security partnerships and a center for consultation on international security issues" with countries such as India and China.


In order to tackle these threats effectively, NATO should create "a stronger, more inclusive security coalition, with NATO as the hub," he said.


"Against such threats, the approaches of a bygone era simply no longer work. Static, heavy metal armies are not going to impress terrorists, pirates or computer hackers," he said.