Iran wants time to review IAEA plan

“Time should be allocated to see if the plan has the capacity to solve the (nuclear) case,” Ali Larijani, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, told reporters during a joint news conference with Russia’s national security adviser, Igor Ivanov. He did not elaborate.

The Security Council last month voted unanimously in favour of imposing limited sanctions on Iran after it ignored demands to halt enrichment. Iran faces the prospect of additional sanctions unless

it stops enrichment, which can produce material usable both as fuel for electricity-generating reactors and for nuclear weapons, by the end of a 60-day period that ends next month.

Ivanov said ElBaradei’s proposal could be “remarkable” and was optimistic that the dispute could be resolved if both sides agreed to it.

Iranian state-run radio reported earlier yesterday that Tehran wants Moscow to help mediate the standoff, saying the country was looking to Russia for “new proposals, such as enrichment of uranium on Russian soil.”