BOR, Russia - The United States reported progress on Monday on resolving differences with Moscow on nuclear technology exports to Iran but made clear it took a dim view of a new Russian law on religion.

Briefing journalists at a government residence in pine woods outside Moscow, Vice President Al Gore said he had also tackled Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on U.S. oil investments and a strategic nuclear arms treaty that awaits Russian ratification….

"We've agreed to continue to share information and to work together closely to prevent the possibility of nuclear missile technology reaching Iran or any other rogue state," Gore said….

Russia has rejected U.S. calls to stop building a nuclear power station in Iran's Gulf port of Bushehr. On Sunday Russia proposed the two countries jointly monitor the plant, which Washington fears Tehran will use to help build nuclear bombs.

Gore seemed lukewarm to the idea, saying: "We had extensive discussions about the Bushehr reactor site, and joint monitoring is the least of our concerns."…

Iran Military Might Source of Constant Worry, Reuter, September 22

KUWAIT - Britain said on Monday Iran remained a threat to its neighbors in the Middle East because of its growing armament program and military technology.

"Iran remains a constant worry in terms of the armament it is acquiring and technology it might well have and what that might mean for both its neighbors and for the wider Middle East," Defense Minister George Robertson told a news conference.

Roberston, who flew to Kuwait on Monday for a two-day visit from Oman, is the first British cabinet minister to come to the region since the Labor Party came to power in May.

The minister, who made a brief reference to a death edict against British author Salman Rushdie, said Britain was searching for signs of change in Tehran's policy since President Mohammad Khatami…

But "...as yet there are no clear signals to indicate that. Therefore we must be on guard against both the Iranian and the Iraqi threats," Robertson added.

Robertson was speaking aboard the HMS Chatham, one of many Western and regional warships which keep a close eye at Iran's military moves in the vital Gulf waterway and a gradual improvement of the Islamic republic's ability to operate three Russian-made Kilo-class submarines.

"When they first got the submarines they could have breakfast underwater," said one Western officer of Iran's lack of submarine warfare expertise in the early 1990s.

"They have not fired torpedoes since 1994 but now we see them staying under water for longer periods ...They now have breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea," he added….

No More Moderate Than Others, Khatami Calls for Continued Arms Buildup, Reuter, September 22 

TEHRAN - Iran commemorated its 1980-88 war with Iraq on Monday with a call by President Mohammad Khatami for powerful armed forces to confront threats to regional security….

"The presence of foreign fleets in the Persian Gulf...and the joint military exercise by America, Turkey and Israel...are threats against the security of the region," he said. "As long as there are threats, we must keep ready. Our armed forces should stay powerful."…

Khatami said independent and freedom-seeking nations, including Iran, were continuously threatened by "the hegemonic and expansionist powers of the world, which mandates us to strengthen our armed forces."…

More than 200,000 ground, air and naval troops are taking part in a week of live-fire exercises in central Iran, and the Revolutionary Guards are holding war-games in the Gulf as part of the commemoration….

Plugging Leaks, U.S. News & World Report, September 29

Alarmed over recent security leaks, Iranian President Mohammed Khatami is radically reshuffling his country's top secret Atomic Energy Organization.

According to Mideast intelligence sources, Khatami - reportedly eager to accelerate Iran's military nuclear development program - was particularly spooked by a recent British newspaper report.

The article revealed that an Iranian businessman based in Glasgow, Scotland, acting for the Tehran government, had attempted to surreptitiously purchase spectrometers and advanced computers used in uranium enrichment. The expose was the latest in a series of reports in the European press regarding Iranian nuclear ambitions…

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