Iran mixed on Russian nuke offer

Yet officials say they believe it is the best face-saving strategy to pursue a negotiated settlement with Iran. European and American officials familiar with the details of the offer that Russia made to Iran say that Iran would continue to be allowed to operate its nuclear plant at Isfahan, which converts raw uranium into a form that is ready to be enriched. That is a step that both Europe and the US said last year that they could not allow—and that was explicitly barred under the agreement between Iran and Europe in late 2004, because Iran could divert the uranium to secret enrichment facilities.

Iran has given mixed signals about its willingness to accept the Russian plan. Its top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijiani, described it as a ‘‘positive’’ proposal after a meeting in Moscow earlier this week. But today, after his return to Tehran, Larijani called it ‘‘not sufficient for Iran’s nuclear technology.’’ ‘‘It can be part of a package and taken into consideration within it,’’ he said.

Other Iranian officials have said they would be willing to enrich part of their uranium in Russia, but reserved the right to enrich some at facilities in Iran. Critics of the concession say that it could send a signal to Iran that it no longer has to comply with all provisions of its November 2004 agreement with Europe.

‘‘A red line was crossed’’ when Iran began producing the uranium last fall, said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a nonpartisan research group that follows developments in Iran.

‘‘The Iranians got away with reopening the conversion facility, and now people have accepted it’s never going to be shut again and have taken it off the table.’’ —The New York Times