* Nuclear adviser sees U.S.-Russia deal by year end * Russia cooperation will help apply pressure on Iran * If Iran track fails by year end, expect sanction moves By Luke Baker LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - A U.S.-Russian deal on nuclear arms could be finalised by year's end, and Moscow may also be on board by then to help rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions, U.S. President Barack Obama's nuclear adviser said on Thursday. Gary Samore, Obama's special assistant for arms control, terrorism and proliferation, sketched out a process for progress on both diplomatic tracks after Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged in Moscow on Monday to reduce their nuclear arsenals under a new START arms reduction treaty. "With a lot of hard work I think there's a reasonably good chance that we can reach agreement on a new treaty by the end of this year," Samore told experts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "And then, in a very specific way, Russia is really critical for us to be successful with Iran. I think the effort to reset the relationship with Russia... that can have the effect of making it more likely that Russia will cooperate with us in dealing with Iran. "So for now, at least, that strategy of working on a new START treaty in parallel with efforts to improve our coordination on Iran seems to be working and we'll find out later this year whether that ends up being successful." Asked whether he believed pressure could be brought to bear on Iran ahead of the U.N. General Assembly in September, Samore was doubtful, but said that if there was no progress by year end, then more aggressive steps would be taken. "President Obama made clear that by the end of this year he will expect to see some tangible results in terms of U.S. engagement with Iran. I think if we really haven't seen any significant progress by that time, I'm sure the U.S. will rather work with the Europeans, Russia and China to try to increase pressure on them through the Security Council," he said. "We're not there yet. The Iranians need to understand that if this diplomatic opening, this window for engagement, doesn't produce any results it's just inevitable that they will face much stronger action in New York. "The improvement in relations between the U.S. and Russia makes that a much more credible threat." IRAN TOP PRIORITY Monday's Russia-U.S. agreement aims for a substantial reduction in nuclear weapons and launchers on both sides, although Samore said it amounted to a preliminary move by both ahead of much tougher negotiations over deeper cuts. Still, he said the deal with Russia was secondary to efforts to prevent Iran moving ahead with its nuclear ambitions, which the United States believes are aimed at securing nuclear weapons and Iran insists are purely for domestic energy purposes."From an American standpoint, Iran is a much higher priority than it is for Russia. "The Russians see this new START treaty as a mechanism to maintain rough parity with the United States, and we see Russian assistance on Iran as essential to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Both these issues are going to come to a head at a very similar time towards the end of this year. "If we make concessions on strategic nuclear issues the Russians are much more willing to be cooperative when it comes to Iran." (Editing by Michael Roddy)
Iranian flags are seen flying over the Iranian embassy in Baghdad July 9, 2009. Iran said on Thursday five Iranian officials held by U.S. forces in Iraq for more than two ...
