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Iran: Moscow, Tehran Could Sign Spent Fuel Agreement By End of Month Tehran and Moscow could sign an agreement by the end of the month on the return of spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran to Russia, Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said yesterday (see GSN, July 3). Environmental experts have completed their examination of the agreement, which has cleared the way for Russia and Iran to sign, Rumyantsev said. “For a long time the Iranian side has had no objections to the signing,” he said (Daily Star, July 17). Russia will supply the first 11 deliveries of 500 kilograms each of fuel for the Bushehr reactor to Iran via cargo jet after the agreement is signed, Rumyantsev said. The first fuel shipments would likely be loaded into the reactor in mid-2004, he said (Xinhua News Agency, July 17). Iranian Defense Strategy Does Not Include Nuclear Weapons, Khatami Says Meanwhile, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has said that Iran’s defense strategy does not include nuclear weapons (see GSN, July 16). “I frankly say that there is absolutely no place in Iran’s defense strategy to acquire nuclear arms,” Khatami said. “We are, in fact, asking the world and the region to get rid of such weapons,” he said. Instead, Iran is seeking nuclear technology for peaceful uses, Khatami said, denying that its civilian nuclear program was a cover for military activities. “Acquiring nuclear technology does not mean having nuclear arms,” Khatami said. “What Iran has obtained through its own capabilities ... is an introduction to peaceful nuclear technology,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 16).
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