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Iran Announces Breakthrough in Nuclear Talks With Russia
Iran and Russia have agreed in principle to set up a joint uranium enrichment venture, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 24). An agreement on the nuclear compromise — under which Russia would enrich uranium on behalf of Iran — could stymie Western calls for U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran following an International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting on March 6, according to the Post. Aghazadeh said, however, that there was still no formal agreement on the Moscow proposal. “There are different parts that need to be discussed,” he said. “These are not just related to forming a company — there are other elements. There are political issues, and the proposal should be seen as a package.” Russian analysts said Iran wants guarantees that it will not be attacked by the United States. U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley reacted cautiously to the announcement. “In any of these arrangements, the devil is in the details,” he told CNN’s “Late Edition.” “We’ll just have to see what emerges.” Talks between Aghazadeh and Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia’s nuclear agency, are expected to resume this week in Moscow. Among the issues still being discussed is potential continuation of Iran’s limited uranium enrichment efforts, the Post reported. “I think there remain no organizational, technical or financial problems on the joint venture establishment,” Kiriyenko said. “The international community must have guarantees of security and preservation of the nonproliferation regime” (Peter Finn, Washington Post, Feb. 27). Kiriyenko, however, played down progress on achieving a deal before the IAEA meeting next week, Agence France-Presse reported today. “This is a complex issue and the negotiations are difficult,” Kiriyenko told ITAR-Tass. “There is little time left for further agreements,” he said (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Feb. 27). Meanwhile, IAEA safeguards director Olli Heinonen is in Tehran for talks ahead of the release of the agency report on Iran, AFP reported. Iran has offered to present the U.N. nuclear watchdog with information on its “Green Salt” uranium processing project. One diplomat called Tehran’s late offer an attempt “to neutralize the adverse report the IAEA director is expected to submit.” Nonproliferation analyst Mark Fitzpatrick said Iran seemed to be hurrying to make progress on its nuclear capability. “Iran is moving faster than some observers had expected. It appears to be determined to establish news facts on the ground, a functioning enrichment capability, before it is faced with Security Council action,” Fitzpatrick said. “Meanwhile it is pursuing its own carrot-and-stick approach: providing more information to the inspectors as it continues to defy international demands to suspend the enrichment work,” he said (Agence France-Presse II/IranMania.com, Feb. 24). Tehran yesterday issued a warning ahead of next week’s IAEA meeting, AFP reported. “We expect the next session not to be politicized,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. “If the session is harsh and the atmosphere tense, it will not be to the benefit of the IAEA or countries who are following such policies. The Islamic Republic of Iran is more resistant when under more pressure,” he said (Agence France-Presse III/Yahoo!News, Feb. 26). Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Hosseini-Tash said today that there is no reason for the country to back down over its nuclear program, AFP reported. “Iran has predicted and studied the consequences of any possible Security Council decision. There is no reason for Iran to retreat,” he said. “Any possible Security Council resolution against Iran's peaceful nuclear activities will not have any legal or rational foundations. It is not the last loop in the chain of decisions, especially when the U.S. and the West are not sure of an agreement among Security Council members,” he said (Agence France-Presse IV/Yahoo!News, Feb. 27). Launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, under construction in Iran with assistance from Russia, has been further delayed, AFP reported. “The start-up will be delayed a bit,” the head of Iran’s nuclear power station development program, Assadollah Sabouri, told AFP yesterday. Kiriyenko, during a visit to the plant, did not say when the plant would begin its work. He said the delays were “not political but technical.” However, an Iranian nuclear official disputed that assertion. “The delay is only political: if it was just a technical question it could be solved in a matter of months,” he said. “We hope the reactor can start before the end of 2006, we hope there will not be further delay” (Agence France-Presse V/Yahoo!News, Feb. 26). Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso was to begin talks today with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tokyo, Reuters reported. Aso said he would press Mottaki for details of the agreement with Russia. “Iran has been carrying on secretly defying the IAEA and losing international credibility. We need to have thorough talks,” Aso said (George Nishiyama, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Feb. 27).
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