Le Figaro keeps at its intense anti-Iranian crusade. After hinting Iran was still on its military nuclear program and the Western position was justified in this regard, the daily continued with its disinformation campaign on its January 13, 2006 issue: “Moscow is stepping back from Ahmadinejad’s Iran”. The daily says that “the hardening of the Iranian posture forces Moscow to lean toward western positions” and that Russia would therefore be willing to give up its privileged and diplomatic position in relation to Iran. To back this argument, the daily quotes Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov’s evasive and incidental words, said during a meeting with his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice. Lavrov confined himself to point out that most IAEA governing board members wish to submit the subject to the UN Security Council.

In fact, the Russian posture has not changed. Moscow thinks that both the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to have a civil nuclear industry and that of the international community to limit any military nuclear proliferation must be respected. In this frame of mind, the delegation led by Valentin Sobolev visited Teheran on January 7-8, 2006. Sobolev proposed being the guarantor of the civil nature of Iranian uranium enrichment and of the treatment of Iran’s rights. In the beginning, Moscow considered conducting such operations in Russian territory, which was rejected by Iran – a country interested in enjoying all of its rights in its own territory. Consequently, both states negotiate today the conditions through which Russian engineers could supervise such operations in Iran. The chairman of the Duma’s Foreign Relations Commission Konstantin Kossachev said to Novosti – a news agency – that a solution would be found, so that the Russian proposal was acceptable to Iran. And in order that no misunderstanding would arise about the Russian posture, the Russian Atomstroyexport society confirmed on January 13, 2006 that it kept its 3 700 experts in Iran and continued on the construction of the Buchehr civil nuclear plant, while the Russian Defence Ministry announced, on that same day, the expedition of the delivery of defensive armament to Iran. The transfer includes 29 fifth-generation missiles Tor-M1 capable of intercepting drones, helicopters, fighters and even missiles. New DCA systems could also be sold to Iran to protect its large cities, ports and nuclear plants. Finally, Iran should get the observer status at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – a Russian-Chinese military alliance – by the summer of 2006.

But Le Figaro disregards the above elements. Like its Atlantist colleagues, it tries to persuade its readers that the US allegations against Iran are ratified by the whole international community.