Iran engages on nuclear issue, concedes little

zoom

Iran appeared flexible enough at talks with six major powers to mute calls for immediate tougher sanctions, but signalled no retreat from nuclear goals it says are only to produce energy and not bombs.

Western officials said Iran had agreed in principle at the October 1 meeting in Geneva to a deal under which it would send most of its enriched uranium to Russia for further processing.

France would then place the uranium in fuel assemblies which Iran would use, under safeguards, in a Tehran nuclear reactor which produces medical isotopes but is running low on fuel.

A senior US official in Geneva said that the deal could calm tension by reducing Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium.

He called it a "positive interim step to help build confidence so that we'd have more diplomatic space to pursue Iran's compliance with its obligations... and to tackle the more fundamental question of Iran's nuclear programme".

But a senior Iranian official said the deal was preliminary and contested reports that Iran was ready to send 1.2 tonnes of its 1.5-tonne low-enriched uranium stockpile abroad for refining to the 20 percent purity needed for the Tehran reactor.

"Whatever they've agreed [in Geneva] on 20 percent enrichment is just based on principles," the official said. "We have not agreed on any amount or any numbers."

The degree of Iranian commitment to the proposal, which will be discussed at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on October 18, remains unclear, but one expert said there was no way Iran would renounce its uranium enrichment work.

"I cannot see in any conceivable agreement that the Iranians would give up their ambitions to perfect the technology for future power reactors within Iran," said Paul Ingram, director of the British American Security Information Council.

"The Iranians are playing for time in a very complex game," he added. "It involves firing missiles at inopportune times in order to appear strong and then quietly trying to draw the sting from any significant move for sanctions."

Iran conducted missile tests earlier last week, just days after declaring the existence of a second uranium enrichment facility carved into a mountainside near the city of Qom.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM