Russian nuclear expert had insisted Iran posed no threat - Tehran Times

The Tehran Times last year had carried an interview with Alexander Pikayev, the Russian nuclear weapons expert found dead in Malta, quoting him as saying that Iran was no threat to any other country.

Pikayev was Russia’s Head of the Department for Disarmament and Conflict Resolution Studies of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. In an interview he said that ran’s nuclear activities were peaceful. The accusation against Iran of building nuclear weapons was 'baseless'.

He said he hoped that Iran will remove ambiguities about its peaceful nuclear activities by continuing cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Pikayev said the recent pilot launch of the Bushehr Power Plant has proved it that the Iranian project was peaceful.

He said Iran-Russia cooperation in solving the crises in the Caucasus region and Central Asia would help ensure regional stability as well as fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. He then referred to the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in the Caucasus and Central Asia as the cause of chaos, stressing the need for ending their presence in the region.

Calling on Iran and Russia to make further efforts to ensure a stable region, Pikayev said the regional powers were willing to solve their problems by their own means without foreigners’ interference.

"The Russian official noted that the western sanctions against Iran are “irrational” and “fruitless” because Iran is a developing country which is rich in energy resources. In addition, he said the European Union has fallen in the trap of U.S. policy and because of that has imposed sanctions against Iran.

Pikayev was found dead in a Bugibba flat last Wednesday with a blow to the head. The police said the blow could have been caused when he fell in his flat.

Alexei Arbatov, Pikayev's colleague at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Moscow Times that Pikayev's widow flew to Malta after the grim discovery was made.

Kommersant reported that Pikayev had probably suffered a heart attack. But Nikolai Petrov, who worked with Pikayev at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told The Moscow Times that Pikayev had not complained about his health in the months before his death.

Pikayev was also a much-cited media pundit and often commented on current events in The Moscow Times.