Russian atomic chief in Tehran for compromise proposal on Iranian nuclear issue

Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian Federation Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in Tehran early Friday in a further attempt to persuade Iran on a compromise proposal aimed to cool down the rising tension over the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran's state television said that Kiriyenko would meet his Iranian counterpart Gholamreza Aghazadeh and Economy Minister Davoud Danesh Jafari during his three-day visit.

According to the Iranian Cultural and Islamic Guidance Ministry, Kiriyenko would also visit the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran's first nuclear plant being constructed with Russian aid, and hold a press conference there.

Kiriyenko's talks with Iranian officials in Tehran are a sequel of those in Moscow on Monday and Tuesday, which Seyed Ali Hosseini- Tash, head of the Iranian delegation, termed as constructive but Russian President Vladimir Putin said was not going easily.

Hosseini-Tash also said that the two parts reached rudimentary agreement on some principles of the Russian proposal that the two countries establish a joint venture in Russia to enrich uranium for Iran.

Moscow holds that its offer would secure Iran's legal nuclear rights while guaranteeing the peaceful use of the technology, but Iran conditions the acceptance of the plan on its legal right to enrich uranium at home being recognized.

Uranium enrichment is the key step for constructing nuclear fuel cycle, but highly enriched uranium can be used for building nuclear weapons.

In a latest effort to break the deadlock, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani recently suggested that Iran apply centrifuges which are restricted to produce low enriched uranium, saying it could guarantee the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, and the European Union holds accordingly that Tehran's full mastery of nuclear fuel cycle technology would lead to military usage.

Iran insists saying that its nuclear program is completely peaceful, vowing not to give up its legal rights.

Source: Xinhua