Russia does not support sanctions on Iranian civilians

"We are convinced that the path of sanctions is not optimal."

"At the same time, the possibility that events may develop along these lines cannot be excluded."
-- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

In a speech at the Arab Summit in Libya Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated he does not support sanctions that will affect the Iranian civilian population stating that "sanctions must be carefully adjusted and not aimed at Iran's civilian population."

The Arab Summit

Syrian President Assad greeting Qatar’s Sheikha Hind bint Hamad

Arab Summit . Damascus . 29-30 March 2008

(Photo: Gulf Times)

The Arab Summit subdued in the absence of the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan today ended two days of meeting in Damascus by warning Israel that Arabs would “review” their peace initiative unless Israel changed its behavior.

The Arab peace initiative of 2002 offers Israel peace and normal relations with all Arab countries in return for withdrawal from all territory captured in the 1967 war.

On Lebanese crisis, the summit declaration broke no new ground, saying the Arab leaders stand by an Arab initiative which endorses army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as a consensus president.

Iran, represented at the summit by its foreign minister as an observer, objected to the summit's support for the UAE claim to three islands in the Persian Gulf. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said the claim was “vain and baseless” as the islands were an inseparable part of Iranian territory.

Iran, Gulf Ministers in Damascus

Foreign Minister of Iran, Qatar, Oman and Syria held an extraordinary meeting at Damascus airport today amid signs of trouble for the upcoming Arab League summit scheduled to be held in the Syrian capital at the end of March.

On Tuesday, a number of Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo to hammer out differences. There were concerns over Syrian reluctance to invite the sitting Lebanese government to the summit. Lebanon, which has been without a president since November, could be represented at the meeting by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a staunch critic of Syria. The Syrian foreign minister announced after the meeting in Cairo that Lebanon will be officially invited to attend.

Saudi Arabia leads a large group of Arab countries who object to Syrian role in Lebanon and the country’s close relationship with Iran. Syria wanted the Saudis to attend to avoid a fiasco where the Saudis and a number of Persian Gulf countries would boycott the summit.

Oman and Qatar are the only Gulf states which maintain relatively close ties to Syria. Their presence in Damascus today along with the foreign ministers of Iran and Syria is an attempt to devise a coordinated policy to salvage the Damascus Summit.