Iran To Sign Deal With Russia For Nuclear Power Plant Fuel


TEHRAN - Iran says it will sign a deal next week with Russia under which Moscow will provide fuel to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Iranian state television quotes a deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Asadollah Sabouri, as saying a pact, which obligates Tehran to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia, will be signed February 26.

Under the deal, Mr. Sabouri says Russia will provide the Bushehr plant with nuclear fuel for the next 10 years.

Moscow and Tehran have been locked in negotiations over the final disposition of spent fuel. Russia had refused further assistance in developing the Bushehr plant until Tehran agreed to return the spent fuel, which can be used in the development of nuclear weapons.

The United States says it suspects Iran is trying to develop such weaponry, despite Tehran's assertions its nuclear intentions are peaceful.

Iran-Russia Deal Could Blunt Bush Diplomacy Talk


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Thursday there was still time for diplomacy to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, but a Russian deal to provide the Islamic republic with nuclear fuel in defiance of the United States was likely to rekindle fears of confrontation.

Iran accused its long-time foe Washington of using a brief worldwide scare over an explosion on Wednesday near its only nuclear reactor to unleash "psychological warfare."

The explosion -- first reported by Iranian television as a possible airplane missile strike but later said to have been an errant construction site blast -- rattled an anxious world.

Washington has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, and it is seeking to halt any potential weapons-related work.

Iran, rich in oil but struggling to provide power for a growing population, denies that it is developing nuclear arms and says its program is solely for generating electricity.

"As you know, the Iranian issue hasn't even gotten to the (U.N.) Security Council yet. And so there's more diplomacy, in my judgment, to be done," Bush told a news conference called to present his new U.S. intelligence czar.

Bush's remarks suggested that any moves toward military action would wait at least until after the matter goes before the United Nations for possible sanctions.

Vice President Dick Cheney recently raised the possibility that Israel, Washington's close ally, might take matters into its own hands and bomb suspected Iranian nuclear sites.

Bush in 2002 grouped Iran with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq into what he called an "axis of evil."

But he told the news conference that Iran was different from Iraq, which the United States invaded over allegations of weapons development but only after years of diplomacy. Bush said he would discuss Iran during a trip to Europe next week.

Later, his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, called on Iran to stop supporting Hizbollah guerrillas, warning the group's activities could threaten a fragile cease-fire deal between Israeli and the Palestinians

REACTOR FUEL DEAL WITH RUSSIA
Iran, meanwhile, announced a deal to be signed later this month to obtain nuclear fuel from Russia, Washington's former superpower rival, for the reactor in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr.

Russian Atomic Energy Agency chief Alexander Rumyantsev said ways of accelerating the reactor's start-up would be discussed during his visit to Tehran next week, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

The 1,000-megawatt reactor is due to reach full capacity in 2006.

Under the deal, spent fuel would be sent back to Siberian storage units after about a decade of use -- a condition Russia thinks should allay U.S. concerns that Iran could use the material to make weapons.

Word of the Russian agreement came one day after Iranian state television shook world markets -- already worried about any possible U.S. or Israeli intervention -- by reporting an explosion near the Russian-built nuclear power plant.

The explosion was later attributed to work during dam construction, but only after reports of the blast were flashed around the world.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, saw a calculated campaign by the United States and the Western media. "Reports of a strike were false and are psychological warfare," against Iran's legitimate nuclear program, he said.

Tehran has accused the United States of using satellites and other means to spy on its nuclear sites and threatened to shoot down any surveillance craft.

The European Union, represented by France, Britain and Germany, has been trying to persuade Iran to scrap any weapons-related activities in return for economic incentives.

Hadley, speaking to reporters hours after the news conference, played down differences with Europe, and put the onus on Iran to show it was prepared to accept a permanent cessation of its enrichment programs and reprocessing activities. "I think that's really the next thing that we need to see," he said.

But the Islamic republic has repeatedly said it will never permanently end its nuclear activities -- a policy that enjoys widespread support across a broad range of domestic political, social and religious factions.

Israel said on Wednesday that Iran was just six months away from having the knowledge to build nuclear weapons.
In the past, Israel has warned of possible pre-emptive military attacks on its nuclear facilities, similar the attack on Iraq's Osiraq reactor in 1981.

Bush did not repeat his vice president's suggestion of possible Israeli air strikes, but he used his press conference to reiterate strong backing for the Jewish state.

"Iran has made it clear they don't like Israel, to put it bluntly. And the Israelis are concerned whether or not Iran develops a nuclear weapon, as are we, as should everybody," Bush said.

"In that Israel is our ally, and in that we've made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if their security is threatened," Bush said.

Iran, Syria grow ever closer

Tehran — Iran warned that any strike on its nuclear facilities would draw a swift and crushing response and called Thursday for an expansion of its newly emerging strategic alliance with Syria to create a powerful united Islamic front that could confront Washington and Israel.

Such an expansion appears unlikely to go far, because many key Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia — are U.S. allies and have long been suspicious of Iran's Shiite Muslim clerical regime.

Still, the statements were another sign of the tense situation, coming a day after Syria and Iran declared they would form a united front against any threats, and a mysterious explosion near a nuclear facility in southwestern Iran that initially was reported as a missile strike but later was attributed to construction work on a dam.

Iran's overtures to other Muslim countries in the Mideast reflect its concern about U.S. pressure to drop all its nuclear ambitions. With Syria under similarly strong American scrutiny — in its case for its role in Lebanon and as an alleged sponsor of terrorism — the two countries are trying to diminish Washington's efforts to isolate them.

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The U.S. administration has so far applied only diplomatic pressure, but has talked tough. U.S. President George W. Bush has labelled Iran part of an “axis of evil” with North Korea and pre-war Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Feb. 4 that a military strike against Iran was “not on the agenda at this point,” but Bush has said he would not rule out any option.

Bush said Thursday the United States would support Israel “if her security is threatened.”

Israel has warned that it may consider a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear installations along the lines of its 1981 bombing of an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad. The United States accuses Iran of having a secret program to make nuclear weapons; Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes.

Fears the United States or Israel will attack Iran or Syria abound in the region, and Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani was quoted Thursday by state-run radio as saying retaliation would be harsh.

“When the Iranian nation sees our crushing response to the enemy, it should know one of our nuclear or non-nuclear facilities has been attacked,” he said.

Iran's powerful former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaking after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji al-Otari, said it was important to strengthen relations among Iran, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and other Islamic countries in the region, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Mr. Rafsanjani said the United States and Israel were trying to create divisions among regional countries, which he said must “stay completely vigilant vis-a-vis the U.S. and Israeli plots.” Mr. Rafsanjani is widely expected to run in June presidential elections.

Iran and Syria long have maintained warm relations. Syria was the only Arab country that remained allied to Iran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and the two countries often co-ordinate on foreign policy, especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

“The Iranian-Syrian common front is not a new phenomenon,” said Mohammad Sadeq al-Hosseini, an Iranian expert on Arab affairs.

“Iran and Syria have been strategic allies for the past 2½ decades. What was declared Wednesday was insistence on more co-ordination and co-operation between the two in the face of growing U.S. hostility.”

“The declaration may lead to closer high-level contacts so that the two can assist each other at crucial moments,” he said, noting Iran was a major power in the Persian Gulf. “Closer co-operation between Tehran and Damascus can help delay U.S. plans against the two countries.”

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who also met al-Otari, said Iran and Syria would safeguard their political relations by strengthening their economic ties, IRNA reported

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