Iran sanctions on agenda as Bush, Putin meet

President George W Bush, seeking to change the tone of an increasingly caustic, fraught relationship with President Vladimir V Putin of Russia

President George W Bush, seeking to change the tone of an increasingly caustic, fraught relationship with President Vladimir V Putin of Russia, will press him to support a major escalation of economic pressure against Iran, senior administration officials said.

On Friday, just 48 hours before Putin was scheduled to arrive at the Bush family compound on the edge of this historic seaside town, the administration discussed for the first time with Russia and other members of the UN Security Council a proposal that would require all nations to inspect cargo for illicit nuclear-related shipments or arms that enter their ports from Iran or are destined for the country.

The meeting took place by phone, and the US was represented by R Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary of state. While the inspection regimen is cast as a preventative measure, American officials know that, like a proposed asset freeze on a number of Iranian banks, its effect could be to slow the Iranian economy.

While Bush is not expected to discuss the specifics of the American plan with Putin, a senior official said that Bush is increasingly intent on stopping an Iranian nuclear program, which the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded is making significant progress. “He will make the point that this is the third set of sanctions against Iran, and now we have to make them really count,” the official said.

For the Americans, the effort to squeeze Iran is the most immediate issue on the table with Putin. Washington needs Russia’s support as it presses the Security Council to pass new sanctions, the third round this year, by mid-July. But American officials say they are uncertain how Putin will react.

Bush has told his aides that he has doubts about how willing Putin would be to put his country’s trade with Iran at risk. Russia supplies much of the equipment and expertise for Iran’s main civilian nuclear reactor, and has a deep economic relationship with Iran, including in the oil sector.