Nuclear talks
October 21, 2009
World powers and Iran are set to continue negotiations at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna this Wednesday aimed at resolving a dispute over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
Discussions were suspended on Tuesday after Iran said it would not agree to curb its uranium enrichment activities and that France could not be involved in any deal.
After a meeting with US officials in the office of the IAEA's director general, Mohammed ElBaradei, the Iranian delegation agreed to continue the Vienna talks.
The negotiations involving Iran, France, Russia and the United States are meant to firm up an agreement reached in Geneva earlier in October.
There, Iran agreed in principle to send most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and then on to France for further processing. The refined product would then be converted to fuel rods to replenish the fuel stocks of a reactor in Tehran that makes radio-isotopes for cancer treatments.
Confidence-building measure
Diplomats say the plan is meant to ensure that Iran does not refine uranium to the point at which it could be used to build a nuclear weapon.
On Monday, Tehran said it would not hesitate to further refine uranium in Iran if the talks in Vienna failed.
Western governments have long suspected Iran is developing nuclear weapons. This suspicion was further fuelled by Iran's disclosure of a second uranium enrichment plant in September.
Officials say Iran now has 1,500 kilograms of low-enriched uranium despite having had three rounds of sanctions imposed on it for failing to halt its enrichment activities.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, the IAEA's director general sounded cautiously optimistic about the chances or reaching a deal.
"We still hope to be able to reach an agreement. It's a complex process," ElBaradei said.
av/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold