Iran, Russia Agree to Include More Countries in Fuel Enrichment Plan

Mos News | January 29 2006

Tehran and Moscow have agreed to expand the number of countries participating in the plan to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia, Iran said Saturday, describing a compromise that could satisfy U.S. concerns about the nuclear program.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. and British leaders vowed to exhaust all diplomatic options before turning to sanctions or military action, AP reported.

The nuclear standoff and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent calls for Israel to be wiped off the map have deepened Iran’s isolation and reawakened hostilities between Iran and the West.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki declined to say which other countries would be included. However, a top Iranian nuclear official was recently in Beijing to discuss the Russian plan, which is designed to ensure that Tehran does not attempt to produce material for nuclear weapons.

“Increasing the number of partners in the plan was agreed,” Mottaki said at a news conference. “The place or the places... is under review while negotiations continue.”

Under the plan, Iran would ship its uranium to Russia, where it would be enriched and then returned to Iran for use in its nuclear reactor. That would, in theory, satisfy the world that Iran was using the process only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity.

Tehran contends its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, but the United States and Europe fear the Iranians are using the program as a cover to make nuclear weapons. Uranium that is highly enriched can be used for bombs.

The United States is pressing for the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for alleged violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The atomic energy agency will consider the issue at a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday.

After Iran said it would resume research at its uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz earlier this month, Britain, France and Germany — who were negotiating with Iran — said further talks were pointless.

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