Iran and Russia in joint venture

BBC

Iran has agreed in principle on a joint venture with Russia to enrich uranium.
But further talks are needed, said the head of Iran's nuclear agency, Gholamreza Aghazadeh.

The Russian compromise proposal is that Iran move all the sensitive parts of its nuclear programme to Russian soil to ally Western concerns.

But it is thought unlikely Iran would agree to this. Tehran says it will not give up its current enrichment programme resumed earlier this month.

Mr Aghazadeh was speaking at a news conference in the southern city of Bushehr with his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Kiriyenko.

He said any deal to form a joint company for producing nuclear fuel would have to go further and be part of a wider package if it were to resolve the current crisis.

It appears Iran is looking for a wider compromise that would allow it to keep its nuclear research programme, says the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran.

Mr Kiriyenko said he agreed all countries had the right to nuclear technology, but added that the international community also had the right to objective guarantees that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons.