Putin Hardens Line on Iranian Nuclear Program

Maria Golovnina, Reuters:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, hardening his line toward Iran's nuclear program, said on Thursday Tehran needed to do more to assure the world it was not trying to build atomic weapons.

Putin, at a news conference in Jerusalem, said Tehran's agreement to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia -- which agreed to supply the material to Iran's Bushehr plant -- "does not seem to be enough."

He said that in addition, the Iranians should "abandon all technology to create a full nuclear cycle and also not obstruct their nuclear sites from international control." ...

On a visit to Israel, the first by a Kremlin leader, Putin proposed hosting a Middle East peace conference in Moscow later this year. The offer was swiftly rejected as premature by Israel and the United States.