First crack in Iran nuclear ice

The agreement was announced after a meeting between Russian nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko and Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the country8217;s vice-president.

The two countries 8220;reached a basic agreement on the creation of a joint venture to enrich uranium,8221; Aghazadeh told a news conference.

The International Atomic Energy Agency8217;s 35-nation board of governors is scheduled to meet March 6 to consider what to do about Iran8217;s recent resumption of nuclear activity. The meeting could start a process leading to punishment by the UN Security Council, which has the authority to impose economic and political sanctions on Iran.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russian media as saying Moscow will continue its talks with Iran until the March 6 IAEA board meeting in an effort to resolve the crisis.

Moscow has been struggling to persuade Tehran to reinstate a moratorium on uranium enrichment and agree to shift its enrichment programme to Russian territory to ease world concerns it could divert enriched uranium to a weapons programme. Enriched uranium can be used for both nuclear energy and weapons.

Kiriyenko said Moscow would insist on resolving the Iranian nuclear dispute within the IAEA, Russia8217;s RIA Novosti news agency reported. Russia is one of the five permanent Security Council members with veto power over any resolution.

Russia has said its enrichment offer was contingent on Iran reinstating the moratorium on domestic enrichment, but Iran has rejected such a link and in the past insisted on its right to enrich uranium domestically.

Kiriyenko was quoted by Russian media as saying the joint enrichment venture in Russia was just 8220;one of the elements in the complex of issues related to the Iranian nuclear problem.8221;

After several days of talks with Iranian officials, Kiriyenko said 8220;negotiations weren8217;t going simply and easily.8221;

But he was quoted as saying that 8220;there were practically no technical, organizational and financial problems left8221; in talks on the Russian proposal.

Aghazadeh and Kiriyenko, who together visited a nuclear plant being built by Russia in the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr, said nuclear talks would continue in Moscow over the next few days.

Also, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi confirmed than an IAEA team was in Tehran to discuss the country8217;s nuclear programme. Iran has denied seeking atomic weapons and more than three years of IAEA probing have not produced concrete evidence to the contrary. But the agency discovered suspicious activity, including plutonium experiments and long-secret efforts to develop enrich uranium.

Asefi played down a secret nuclear project that US intelligence has linked to warhead design, saying it would offer information on it to the IAEA.

8220;We will discuss the issue, and the rumours surrounding it, with the agency. It is not very sensitive or ambiguous,8221; Asefi told reporters at a news conference when asked about the secret 8220;Green Salt Project.8221;

Public mention of the 8220;Green Salt Project8221; first surfaced in an IAEA report drawn up earlier this month for a meeting of the agency8217;s board of governors. The meeting ended with the board reporting Tehran to the Security Council over concerns it could be hiding a nuclear weapons programme. Asefi reiterated that Iran would continue its nuclear fuel research activities and would not give in its rights under pressure.