World / Vladimir Putin Russian Alliance Crucial to Disarming Iran Economic pressure can force nuclear shutdown: Schumer By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff Posted Jun 3, 2008 3:23 PM CDT Copied Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke) The way to pressure Iran into halting its nuclear program is through economic sanctions, Sen. Chuck Schumer argues in the Wall Street Journal. And the key to giving them teeth is to enlist Russia's cooperation. "To bring Putin's Russia on board we must make it an offer it cannot refuse," the New York Democrat writes. Russia "has a longstanding, close relationship with Iran and regards itself as Iran's protector," writes Schumer. It also reaps billions from the country and is afraid to lose political leverage to the West. But a successful economic boycott through forging an alliance with Russia "is our best hope to avoid a nuclear Iran." (More Vladimir Putin stories.) Report an error