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Iran Rebuffs Japanese Aspect of Russ-Iran Nuke Deal
 Iran on Monday rejected Japan's request to suspend uranium enrichment, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it had made its joint-venture uranium enrichment proposal contingent on such a move. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was reported to have denied Tokyo's request to halt uranium enrichment at a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso. Mottaki said Iran was only conducting 'research activities' and that suspending such operations was 'impossible,' according to Japan's Kyodo News. Aso asked Iran to take a 'positive' attitude towards Russia's joint uranium enrichment proposal as a potential 'breakthrough' in the Iranian nuclear crisis, according to a Japanese official. The meeting between Mottaki and Aso came a day after Iran and Russia announced they had reached a 'basic agreement' on a 'technical and political' package. The head of Russia's Rosatom nuclear power agency Sergei Kiriyenko and his Iranian counterpart Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh proclaimed the agreement without giving any details on Sunday following talks in the Gulf port of Bushehr in southern Iran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday in Moscow that Russia's proposed joint-venture agreement was linked to a demand that Iran reinstate its previous voluntary suspension of nuclear research activities. Russia would continue its dialogue with Iran until a decisive meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 6 in Vienna, Lavrov said. Russia initially proposed to enrich uranium for use in Iran's nuclear energy programme on its own territory, but in talks since the two countries appear to have worked out a more broad-based plan. Russian negotiators returning from Iran Monday were skeptical about Tehran's supposed concessions. 'It's a difficult question, the negotiations are difficult,' RosAtom's Kiriyenko said. Another Russian official said Iran's agreement in principle to the Russian proposal represented the only progress so far and that Tehran was still insisting on carrying out enrichment for research purposes at home. 'Under those conditions, Russia cannot establish a joint venture, because it loses all meaning,' the official was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying. The United States and the European Union, in particular, fear that Iran is secretly planning a nuclear weapons programme. Tehran says the programme is aimed only at generating nuclear-powered energy. Iran resumed its uranium enrichment programme after the (IAEA) reported Tehran to the UN Security Council for not complying with IAEA nuclear safeguards. Japan is hoping to help resolve the crisis for fear of economic repercussions if sanctions are imposed on Iran. The two governments signed an agreement two years ago to develop a joint oil project in Azadegan, southern Iran, said to be one of the world's largest oil fields. Japan acted despite the opposition of the United States, which does not want to see Tokyo secure natural resources in Iran. Mottaki arrived in Tokyo Monday for three days on his first visit since becoming foreign minister in August. The Iranian minister served as an ambassador to Japan between 1995 and 1999. Iranian negotiators are also expected to visit Moscow again this week. Posted by: Captain America 2006-02-27 |
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