Putin rejects strikes on Iran from Caspian

By Oleg Shchedrov and Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear to Washington on Tuesday that Moscow would not accept military action against Iran and he persuaded other Caspian Sea states to rule out any such strikes from the region.

Putin also invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- who is fighting calls from the West to shut down nuclear work that Washington says is aimed at building atomic bombs -- to Moscow for talks, Russian news agencies said.

Dates for Ahmadinejad's visit would be arranged through diplomatic channels, RIA news agency quoted a statement by the two leaders as saying.

Earlier, in comments aimed at the United States, Putin said during his talks in Iran: "We should not even think of using force in this region."

"We need to agree that using the territory of one Caspian Sea (state) in the event of aggression against another is impossible," he told the presidents of Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan at a summit of Caspian Sea states.

Western nations accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Washington has refused to rule out the use of force if diplomacy fails to resolve the row.

His remarks about territory also appeared aimed at ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, where the U.S. military has inspected airfields. Russian media have suggested Washington might be trying to negotiate the right to use its military facilities. Baku denies this.

Russia is annoyed at what it sees as the West's attempts to end its influence in former Soviet states.