Roundup: Iran, EU endeavor to save nuclear negotiations

Iran said on Friday that it will consider a Russian proposal to perform its uranium enrichment in Russia, which, together with the EU's green light on the offer, paved the way for the two sides to save nuclear talks from collapse.

"Enrichment in those countries might serve their interests, but what matters to us is owning the full cycle of the nuclear fuel in Iran ... We would naturally survey such a proposal," chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying.

Larijani referred to a suggestion reportedly made by Russia last week to break the current standoff of the Iranian nuclear issue, which will allow Iran to keep its uranium conversion activities, a preparatory step for enrichment, on condition that the actual enrichment be carried out in Russia to prevent the technology from being used for military purposes.

The negotiator said the European trio of Britain, France and Germany had not replied to his letter calling for resuming nuclear negotiations, which was forwarded to foreign ministers of the three countries on Nov. 6.

"Iran welcomes constructive and logical talks within the framework of respective conventions and regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Larijani said in the letter.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran will continue pursuing efforts to build confidence on the nuclear dispute as what it had already done before but will not yield to any pressure.

Earlier in the day, Larijani told state television that Iran will "definitely try all existing peaceful approaches to resolve its nuclear issue," while warning that "this does not mean that there is no other approach left."

Uranium conversion is the process of turning uranium ore nicknamed "yellowcake" to uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6), which can be fed into connected centrifuges to yield enriched uranium, the material that can be used to generate electricity as well as build nuclear weapons.

The United States and the European Union (EU) have expressed readiness to withdraw from its previous position that Iran must halt all activities related to uranium enrichment and to accept Russia's plan.

Besides, the EU announced recently after days of negotiations within the union that it will not seek to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council at a coming meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.

Iran resumed uranium conversion activities in early August, stalling nuclear negotiations with the EU which started after Tehran suspended all activities related to uranium enrichment in November 2004.

In response, the IAEA adopted a EU-drafted resolution on the Iranian nuclear issue on Sept. 24, urging Iran to re-suspend all enrichment-related activities before the agency's Board of Governors convenes on Nov. 24 or face possible referral.

Tehran has rejected the resolution, saying the referral will cause serious consequences, including Iran's immediate resumption of uranium enrichment which will mark a complete failure of bilateral negotiations.

Source: Xinhua