Originally published November 9, 2009 at 3:42 AM | Page modified November 9, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Iran still wants nuke talks with world powers
Iran still wants talks with world powers over fuel supplies to a Tehran nuclear reactor - despite the country's apparent rejection of a U.N. plan to curb Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.
Associated Press Writer
Iran still wants talks with world powers over fuel supplies to a Tehran nuclear reactor - despite the country's apparent rejection of a U.N. plan to curb Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.
The Iranian top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said late Sunday that Tehran "welcomes" talks on the nuclear issue with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany. Jalili spoke during a meeting with visiting Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, according to Iran's state television.
Russia is part of the U.N. effort to ensure Iran doesn't use its nuclear program for weapons-making purposes, as the West fears. Moscow has warned it could back new sanctions against Iran if it fails to take a constructive stance in the nuclear talks.
A U.N.-brokered plan in October required Tehran to send 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms) - around 70 percent of its stockpile - of low-enriched uranium to Russia in one batch by the end of the year for further enrichment, a move that would ease international concerns the material could be processed for a bomb.
According to the U.N. plan, after further enrichment in Russia, France would convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes. Fuel rods cannot be further enriched into weapons-grade material.
Iran, which says its nuclear work is peaceful, has not yet given a final response to the U.N. proposal, and has come up instead with its own request to buy nuclear fuel from abroad. Iranian officials and lawmakers have hardened their stance toward the U.N. plan in recent comments, adding to the pressure on the government to altogether reject the draft.
In addition, Teheran has indicated it may agree to send only "part" of its stockpile in several shipments abroad and has threatened to - should the talks with world powers fail to help Iran obtain the fuel from abroad - enrich uranium to the higher level needed to power the research reactor domestically.
The back-and-forth has left the nuclear talks in limbo.
On his visit to Tehran, Ryabkov expressed hope the talks would be "concluded soon."
"Tehran still welcomes the talks based on its package of proposals," Jalili said, referring to the Iranian counteroffer.
The United States and its allies are unlikely to accept anything substantially less than the original U.N. plan.
But an American envoy at the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna suggested the West is prepared to wait for a definitive Iranian response.
![]()
"We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them quite obviously," said Glynn Davies, the chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
---
Associated Press Writer George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects quote from US envoy to IAEA.)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
SC gov faces 37 charges he broke state ethics laws
U.K. started planning early for war, leaked papers show
Vaccine to kill nicotine buzz now in late tests by small drug firm
PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwautos
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Do you suffer from "sitting disease"?
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
386 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
212 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
159 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
101 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
96 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
82 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
74 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
71 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
63
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit





