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IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Clinton to press Russia on sanctions for Iran

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aims to seek tangible signs of support from Russian leaders if Iran fails to fulfill its nuclear obligations.

(AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to press Russian leaders for ``specific forms of pressure'' against Iran if the regime fails to comply with international demands to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.

Clinton arrived in Moscow from Belfast on Monday, primed for a heavy schedule of meetings Tuesday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the Iran question, Afghanistan and on American efforts to defuse an anti-missile race in Europe. Also on the agenda is nuclear-armed North Korea, which set off another round of short-range missiles in tests earlier Monday.

A senior State Department official traveling with Clinton said she intends to speak to Lavrov and Medvedev about ``what specific forms of pressure Russia would be prepared to join us and our allies in if Iran fails to live up to its obligations.''

The official said it was critical to get tangible signs of support from Moscow because the more united the international community is the more likely pressure on Iran is to work. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the pending private diplomatic discussions.

On Sunday, in London on the second leg of her current five-day overseas tour, Clinton warned Iran that the world ``will not wait indefinitely'' for proof it is not trying to develop atomic weapons. She said a recent meeting in Geneva in which Iran and six world powers resumed nuclear talks was ``a constructive beginning, but it must be followed by action'' from the Iranians.

Iran insists it has the right to a full domestic nuclear enrichment program that it maintains is only for peaceful purposes. Russia and China have long balked at imposing new sanctions on Iran if it fails to come clean about its suspect nuclear program, although Medvedev hinted the Russian position might be shifting after Tehran disclosed a previously secret uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom.

But U.S. officials believe it will be a hard sell to convince the Russians on fresh penalties since Iran agreed to allow U.N. inspectors to visit the Qom site and has agreed, to send most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for reprocessing.

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