Re: @@ Iran to keep enrichment program @@

NO FOR A LONG TIME REMEMBER IRAK NUCLEAR STATION OSIRAK? ha h a ha ha
ha!!!!


Arash wrote:
Mosnews
February 28, 2006

Iran Says Will Pursue Research as Russia Deal Hangs in the Balance

http://www.mosnews.com/files/13918/iran.jpg
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Japan on Monday Tehran would not
suspend its atomic research and development, casting doubt over whether a Russian
agreement would defuse a crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Reuters news
agency reported.

On Sunday, Iran's nuclear chief said his nation had reached a "basic" agreement with
Russia on a joint venture to enrich uranium, but it was unclear what the deal
involved and both Russian and Iranian officials had identified serious obstacles to a
full deal.

These principally concerned a suspension of Tehran's home-grown uranium enrichment
work, the main demand of Western powers which are threatening to press for U.N.
sanctions. Iran insists it is carrying out peaceful research to fulfil its energy
needs.

"We have been conducting nuclear research and development on a laboratory scale, and
it's impossible for us to suspend this again", Mottaki was quoted by a Japanese
Foreign Ministry official as saying in a meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

Mottaki, who is in Tokyo on a three-day visit, also told Aso that the Russian
proposal had no references in it to Iran's rights to pursue a peaceful nuclear
program.

"We have the right to a peaceful use of nuclear energy and we cannot accept nuclear
apartheid", he told Aso. Aso, though, urged Iran to relieve international concerns by
making a "wise and positive response" to the Russian proposal. "Japan does not want
to see Iran be isolated", Aso was quoted as saying.

The original Russian proposal had been for Iran's uranium to be enriched in Russia to
defuse suspicions that Iran might divert some nuclear fuel into a weapons program.
However, Iran has always insisted upon its right to enrich the uranium it mines in
its central desert on its own soil, and it was unclear how the original Russian
proposal could be tailored to please Tehran.

With time running out for Iran to avoid formal referral to the UN Security Council at
a March 6 board meeting of the IAEA, Japan hopes to persuade Iran - its third-largest
oil supplier - to stop producing enriched uranium, which can be used for nuclear
weapons.

Japan, which imports about 15% of its crude oil from Iran, or some 500,000 barrels a
day, has kept up good ties with the Islamic Republic, and Japanese officials have
said this gives Tokyo a unique role to play in defusing the tensions. "I believe our
nations' cooperative consultations will continue", Mottaki told Aso before their
talks began.

At the March 6 meeting, the IAEA board will discuss the UN watchdog's latest report
on Iran's nuclear program which may determine whether the United States and European
powers push the Security Council to impose sanctions.

The stand-off has posed a dilemma for Japan, which wants to stay in diplomatic sync
with the United States, its main security ally, while also pursuing the development
of an Iranian oil field seen by Tokyo as vital to its energy strategy.

Flying in the face of U.S. objections, Tokyo went ahead two years ago with a deal on
a billion-dollar project to develop the Azadegan oil field in southern Iran,
estimated to hold the world's second-biggest single oil reserves.

The Japanese government has a 36% stake in Japan's biggest oil developer, INPEX
Corp., which plans to develop the southern part of Azadegan, estimated to hold 26
billion barrels of oil. The Azadegan development is one of the biggest foreign
investments in Iran, and Japanese media have estimated that the project may cost up
to $1.7 billion.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/02/28/iranruss.shtml

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