'Russian Capital' Moscow Generals Hint at 'Nuclear Force' Spectrum over Baltic States and Crimea if NATO Doesn't Back Down from Borders

""According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Timesnewspaper - Moscow threatened a “spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military” if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met “forcefully including through the use of nuclear force”.

And they said if Nato sent arms to Ukraine this would be seen as “further encroachment by Nato to the Russian border” and “the Russian people would demand a forceful response”.

They added that “the same conditions that existed in Ukraine and caused Russia to take action there” existed in the three Baltic states, which like Ukraine have significant numbers of people who regard themselves as ethnically Russian.

Russia was considering taking steps in the Baltics, according to the notes, but this would most likely be “destabilizing actions that would be even harder to trace back to Russia than those of eastern Ukraine”.

The notes suggest Moscow would avoid “injections of troops and heavy weapons in favour of other tools”.

“Russia would hope slowly to entice those Russian populations towards Russia without giving Nato a pretext to deploy troops,” the document adds.""

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-threatens-to-use-nuclear-force-over-crimea-and-the-baltic-states-10150565.html

Iran’s Government to Resume All Nuclear Activities if US Imposes New Sanctions

""Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s parliament passed a bill asking the government to resume all nuclear activities if US imposes new sanctions.

Baedinejad added that US Congress has lawmakers who are interested in bringing forward more anti-Iran sanctions. “American Congress has radical elements. There is an element, which can implement sanctions against Iran,” he added.

Following Baedinejad’s consultations at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, he stated: “At this point, we’ve decided to expand cooperation with Russia.”

Back in January, Moscow and Tehran signed a military cooperation deal, with plans to widen collaboration in personnel training and counter-terrorism activities. While no details have been given, it is thought the deal may help resolve the delivery of Russian S300 missiles that was frozen in 2010.

Iran nuclear talks progress

Baedinejad also stressed that negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program with P5+1 powers – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, plus Germany – have reached a critical and sensitive stage.

The P5+1 talks, which are aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, will continue until the end of June, as parties failed to reach a deal by the November 24 deadline

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani largely avoided commenting on the ongoing nuclear talks, but did say that Iran does not need atomic weapons.

“We don’t need an atomic bomb. We have a great, self-sacrificing and unified nation,” Rouhani said in the city of Isfahan on Wednesday.

He also pointed out that other countries, which have nuclear bombs – or are widely believed to have them – failed to bring peace to their people. “Have you managed to bring about security for yourselves with atomic bombs? Have you managed to create security?” Rouhani asked, accusing Israel of possessing nuclear weapons but refusing to acknowledge it.""

Finish Article Here:

http://rt.com/news/229447-iran-nuclear-us-sanctions/