IRAN: Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, Secretary of Russia's Security Council Igor Ivanov meet in Tehran for talks

Secretary of Russia's Security Council Igor Ivanov arrived in Tehran on Tuesday (October 3) for talks with top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, as pressure contrinued to mount on Iran to halt its atomic work. The meeting came as a senior British official said six world powers are preparing to draft UN sanctions against Iran as talks had failed so far to yield a deal. He said European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, trying to coax Iran into halting enrichment, reported back to EU countries and the United States at the weekend that Larijani had given a clear "no". A senior Iranian atomic official said suspending uranium enrichment, which the West says Iran wants to use to build atomic bombs, would not solve the nuclear standoff. The deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Saeedi, instead suggested France could invest in Iran's atomic industry, enabling it to supervise Tehran's work. French state-owned Areva owns Eurodif, Europe's largest uranium enrichment plant. An Areva spokesman said the firm was not aware of such a proposal. The French Foreign Ministry only said it was focused on the Solana-Larijani talks. Similar proposals for foreign investment in the past found no takers. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference in Saudi Arabia there was no evidence Iran was going to suspend enrichment activities. Iran failed to suspend enrichment by an Aug. 31 deadline set by the UN Security Council but U.S. calls for swift moves towards sanctions have met resistance from some European states, keen for more talks, and opposition from Russia and China. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, has shrugged off the threat of sanctions. And Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeated in recent days that Iran would not be deflected from its right to nuclear technology. But the president is not the most powerful figure in Iran's system of clerical rule, which gives the final word to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to whom Larijani answers. Iran has previously proposed that other countries invest in its nuclear industry to allay suspicions. But the proposal is based on enrichment continuing on Iranian soil, which the West rules out because it would give Iran atomic military know-how. Iran insists its plans are aimed at making fuel for nuclear power plants, although its first nuclear power plant, being built by Russians, is still under construction. Washington said U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in telephone talks on Monday on the need for unity in pressuring Iran. The United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany have offered Iran economic and political incentives if it first halts enrichment. Iran responded to these economic and political incentives, and hinted at some flexibility over suspension but not as a precondition for talks.

ITN Source | October 3, 2006

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