Moscow, October 01: French and Russian officials on Thursday gave a guarded welcome to an Iranian idea to obtain enriched uranium from a third party, the first time Tehran has offered such a move in the dispute over its nuclear programme.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran would propose at talks in Geneva on Thursday that it could buy enriched uranium for a research reactor from another country.
“It’s for the research reactor and we have made a response that is fairly positive,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters while in Moscow for talks.
France and Russia, which both have major nuclear industries, are seen as possible suppliers of uranium. Both are veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Russian news agencies quoted a Russian source familar with the issue as saying that Moscow was also “positive about this idea.”
“If the UN nuclear agency approaches us we are prepared to take the uranium and enrich it,” the source said.
According to the ITAR-TASS state news agency, the source said the idea would involve Russia taking Iranian uranium, enriching it and then passing it on to France or Argentina to be made into fuel.
“The idea is very attractive given the fact that the project will be led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” ITAR-TASS quoted the source as saying.
Ahmadinejad said Iran needed uranium enriched up to 20 percent for a research reactor in Tehran and suggested it could be obtained by sending low-enriched Iranian uranium abroad to be enriched further.
Kouchner said Iran could still avoid new sanctions over its nuclear programme, expressing hope that the Geneva talks lead to a breakthrough.
“We have not decided in advance to adopt sanctions,” Kouchner said at the start of talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“Perhaps the discussions in Geneva will allow us to unblock (the situation),” he added.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a tough line on the Iranian nuclear programme, whereas Russia has often spoken out against tough sanctions and fiercely opposed military action.
France has said that Iran has until December to show progress
Iran and the six world powers have agreed to hold another round of talks before the end of the month, Iranian state-owned media reported on Thursday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Thursday’s Geneva nuclear talks were held in a “constructive” atmosphere.
“We consider the atmosphere (in the Geneva talks) as a constructive one,” he told a press conference at UN headquarters.
“We hope that the other side will have the same political will and determination,” Mottaki said, stressing that the Iranian side acts “based on a clear agenda and plan of action.”
He again defended his country’s right to pursue uranium enrichment as part of its peaceful nuclear program aimed at generating electricity.
Iran told world powers that it will not give up its “absolute” right to possess nuclear technology, ISNA news agency said.
“Iran and P5+1 agree to hold talks again before end of October,” the English-language Press TV channel said.
“The participants agreed to hold another round of talks between Dr Jalili and Solana and the representatives of the six countries by the end of October,” the official IRNA news agency reported a source close to the talks as saying.
It quoted Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary as saying it had been agreed that officials would meet to prepare the next round.
Iran’s Arabic language Al-Alam television also reported that the next round of talks will be held before the end of October.
On Thursday, Iran nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili told representatives of world powers at Geneva talks that Iran will never give up its “absolute” rights on its controversial atomic programme, ISNA reported earlier.
“The Islamic republic of Iran will never give up its absolute rights,” Jalili told EU negotiator Javier Solana and representatives of six world powers during Thursday’s first round of talks, ISNA said.
It said that during the meeting Jalili comprehensively explained the framework of Iran’s package of proposals which takes into consideration economic, international security and political issues.
He also stressed the need for complete global disarmament and called for strategies to achieve that aim to be put into place, ISNA said.
On the sidelines of the Geneva talks, US envoy William Burns held a one-on-one meeting with Jalili in a rare official encounter between representatives of the arch-foes, a US spokesman said.
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said the immediate launch of a negotiation process to defuse the crisis “is now, like never before, a pressing matter.”
“We hope that the very important meeting in Geneva today… will be rightly used by Iran in the interests of a resolution of the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme that is agreeable to all sides,” he added.
Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population.
Although Iran has oil, it is still dependent on petrol imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption.
Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear weapons.
Observers say due the strong Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in the US and some European countries, these countries have taken a hypocritical stance in relation to nuclear issues in the region.
Tehran had repeatedly protested against Israeli and US war threats, warning them that it would retaliate in the event of any strike against Iran.
—Agencies