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Russia yesterday closed ranks with the United States and its European allies over Iran's suspect nuclear programs, abandoning a plan to allow Tehran to conduct some uranium-enrichment programs on its own soil.
In the face of adamant U.S. opposition, visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did not even raise Moscow's compromise idea in meetings yesterday with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"There is no compromise new Russian proposal," Mr. Lavrov said after his hastily arranged meeting with Miss Rice.
The United States and leading European Union powers are demanding Iran stop its secret nuclear-weapons programs, and are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to take action against Tehran.
Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran that it must abandon any hopes of obtaining nuclear weapons.
"The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences," Mr. Cheney said in an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a strongly pro-Israel group.
He also implicitly left open the possibility of military action, saying the United States "is keeping all options on the table," and repeated the administration's pledge that Iran will not be allowed to obtain a nuclear bomb.
Russia, which has major commercial interests in Iran, has been seeking a diplomatic solution to the standoff. The Bush administration had supported a Russian plan that would have allowed Iran to proceed with civilian nuclear programs so long as all spent uranium fuel -- a key building block for atomic weapons -- was returned to Russia.
But the United States strongly rejected new feelers from Moscow for a concession to Iran that would allow the Islamic regime in Tehran in time to conduct small-scale uranium enrichment within its borders.
The administration argued that even a small-scale civilian program could quickly be diverted to military purposes.
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