Iran nuke deal hits snag

2005-02-26 13:57

Tehran - A controversial deal between Russia and Iran on supplying the Islamic republic with nuclear fuel and launching its first atomic power plant hit an unexpected last-minute snag on Saturday.

Russia's top atomic energy official Alexander Rumyantsev and his Iranian counterpart Gholamreza Aghazadeh had been due to sign the contract in the morning and then hold a joint conference.

But the spokesperson for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Yaghoub Jabarian, was forced to send reporters home, telling them "the negotiations are dragging on".

"We do not know when they will conclude," he said, adding a press conference will "maybe" take place on Sunday but giving no further explanation.

It was the latest and most spectacular hitch to a contract that the United States - which accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a cover for weapons development - has been trying to convince Russia not to sign.

The deal would cap an $800m contract to build and bring on line the Bushehr reactor in southern Iran, and Russia has so far refused to back down to US demands.

But Moscow had refused to go ahead with the fuel supply contract unless Iran agreed to return spent fuel, which potentially could be reprocessed and upgraded to weapons use.

The signing of the fuel deal was declared to be imminent after Tehran eventually agreed to the condition.

The Russian-built plant at Bushehr ? the construction of which had been launched by Germany in the 1970s - was initially due to go on line last year, but had been held up by the fuel issue.

Bushehr was raised during a summit between US President Goerge W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bratislava on Thursday, where both publicly agreed that Iran should not develop nuclear weapons.

According to Russian diplomats, the United States has been lobbying against Moscow's involvement in Iran's nuclear programme "on a daily basis" - and right up until the Bratislava meeting.

But they also point out the huge contract has "virtually saved Russia's atomic energy industry", and emphasise that there is no way Bushehr could constitute a part of a weapons programme.

Bushehr is also under the supervision of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The delay to the signing also threw into doubt the remainder of Rumyantsev's itinerary. He was due to visit Bushehr on Sunday and hold further talks with his Iranian counterpart on future contracts.

- AFP