Global Security Newswire

Iran on Monday indicated it was ready to furnish its atomic expertise to Egypt and other nations, Iran's Fars News Agency reported (see GSN, July 1).

The United States and its allies suspect Iran's nuclear program is geared toward weapons development; Tehran has insisted its atomic ambitions are strictly peaceful.

"Iran is ready to provide Egypt with its scientific and technical experiences in the production of peaceful nuclear energy and launch cooperation with Cairo in this ground," senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said.

The official said he perceives "no security hindrance to the resumption of relations" between Tehran and Cairo. "Arab revolutions will no doubt change regional equations," he told the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram, months after the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (Fars News Agency I, July 4).

Meanwhile, the speaker for Iran's legislature on Saturday said Tehran was open to talks on its atomic efforts with other governments, but not in multilateral meetings involving the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany, Interfax reported.

"We have always welcomed the discussions (of Iran's nuclear program with the international community)," said Ali Larijani, who previously served as Iran's top nuclear negotiator.

"Iran also welcomes proposals by a number of countries to hold such discussions in the one-on-one format," Larijani told reporters.

Meeting in December and January between Iran and the so-called "P-5+1" -- China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- failed to make progress toward resolving the nuclear impasse (Interfax, July 1)

Elsewhere, a Venezuelan envoy on Sunday denied suggestions that his country has said it would provide uranium to Iran, Fars News reported on Sunday (Fars News Agency II, July 3).