Iran to give nuclear proposals to Russia

Iran held talks with a senior Russian official on Monday on proposals designed to defuse a nuclear row with world powers, an Iranian official said on Monday without giving details.

Iran said this month it would soon unveil ideas to help end the dispute over its nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at producing atomic bombs, an allegation Tehran denies.

Tehran has been hit by three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006 for defying a UN demand to halt sensitive nuclear work.

Sanctions have been backed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany, a group known as the "5+1".

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will submit its proposed nuclear package, which is directed to the 5+1 group, during Sobolev's trip to Iran," state radio said referring to Valentin Sobolev, acting secretary of Russia's National Security Council.

Sobolev and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili began talks on Monday, the radio added.

A senior Iranian official confirmed the report to newswire Reuters, adding: "During the meeting, Jalili will discuss the issue [of the proposals]." The official did not elaborate.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said this month Iran would reveal proposals with a "new orientation" to help end international and other problems.

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Olli Heinonen, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) top investigator, arrived in Tehran on Monday to discuss international accusations that Iran researched how to make nuclear bombs, an Iranian official said.

Heinonen also visited Iran last week. After that trip, the IAEA said Tehran had agreed on steps to clarify the intelligence information by the end of May. Iran had earlier dismissed the intelligence as baseless and declined to address it in detail.

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"We will cooperate with the agency as the only relevant technical organisation, and in case of any question or ambiguity we will provide the answers away from any political ballyhoo," Iran's IAEA ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said.

In comments reported by Iran's Fars News Agency, he said Heinonen's talks would likely last three days, starting Monday.

In a presentation in February, Heinonen indicated links in Iran between projects to process uranium, test explosives and modify a missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.

The intelligence came variously from a laptop computer given to Washington by an Iranian defector in 2004, from some other Western countries and the agency's own inquiries.

US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this month pledged a united effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, possibly by expanding sanctions.

World powers are considering enhancing a package of trade and other incentives for Iran if it stops enriching uranium, which can be used as nuclear fuel or provide material for bombs.

Iran has ruled out shelving its nuclear drive. (Reuters)