Russia formally offers to host Iran’s uranium enrichment program(AP)

25 December 2005


MOSCOW - Russia formally proposed to Iran that it move its uranium enrichment facilities to Russian territory, raising pressure on the Teheran regime to accept the Western-backed plan for restraining its nuclear program.

Iran insists the program has the sole aim of making fuel for atomic reactors that would generate electricity and denies US charges it is trying to develop nuclear weapons in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Washington is pushing for Teheran to be brought before the United Nations Security Council, where it could face economic sanctions over the dispute.

But Russia and China, which have vetoes on the council, oppose referral and the West has stopped short of forcing the matter.

In a diplomatic note sent to Iran’s government on Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that “an earlier Russian offer to Iran to establish a joint Russian-Iranian enrichment venture in Russia remains valid,” the ministry said. The note was delivered by the Russian Embassy in Teheran.

Iranian officials didn’t immediately comment on the offer. Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of the Atomic Organization of Iran, dismissed the proposal as unacceptable earlier this month.

Germany, France and Britain, which are representing the European Union in negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue, suggested shifting Iran’s enrichment activities to Russia, where nuclear material would be enriched to the level needed to fuel reactors. That, in theory, would reduce the possibility the technology also could be used to make weapons-grade uranium.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said its formal proposal represented a “Russian contribution into the search for mutually acceptable solutions in the context of settling the situation around the Iranian nuclear program by political and diplomatic means.”

Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Iran in a deal that has drawn strong US criticism.

Iran’s enrichment program is viewed with suspicion because the country hid that work from U.N. inspectors for nearly two decades before its secret nuclear activities were revealed nearly three years ago.

Since then, a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, has unearthed Iranian experiments, blueprints and equipment that either have “dual-use” applications or seem to have no nonmilitary function. That has further added to concerns, even though no firm evidence of a weapons program has been found.




http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA...iddleeast&col=


Pro-Israel Group Criticizes White House Policy on Iran
At Issue Is New Stance on Tehran's Nuclear Program

After years of unwavering support for the Bush administration, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC has begun to sharply criticize the White House over its handling of Iran's nuclear program.

In lengthy news releases and talking points circulated to supporters on Capitol Hill, AIPAC describes the Bush administration's recent policy decisions on Iran as "dangerous," "disturbing" and "inappropriate." One background paper suggests that White House policies are actually helping Iran -- a sworn enemy of the Jewish state -- to acquire nuclear weapons.



The tough words from one of Washington's most well-connected and influential lobbies come at a difficult time for President Bush, who has been struggling with low poll numbers and growing public discontent over the war in Iraq.

Bush raised AIPAC's concerns in a recent telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair when the two discussed Iran, U.S. officials said.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has tussled with past administrations -- Democratic and Republican -- but not with Bush, who has staked his presidency on a vow to bring democracy to a region dominated by Israel's enemies -- chiefly Iran, Iraq and Syria.

At issue for AIPAC is Bush's decision last month to hold off on pushing to report Iran's nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council. The president and Israel have favored reporting it for the past two years. But with little support from other key U.S. allies, Bush reversed course and endorsed a Russian offer that would allow Iran to conduct some, but not all, of the nuclear work it says it needs for an indigenous nuclear energy program.

Iran has not been receptive to the Russian offer. Iranian diplomats met with their European counterparts in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss the offer. Diplomats said there were no breakthroughs, but the parties agreed to meet again in January.

If Iran accepts the terms, it would be allowed to produce unlimited quantities of converted uranium. That material would be shipped to Russia for enrichment and then returned to Iran to fuel a nuclear power reactor.

In a statement to members of Congress, AIPAC said that it "is concerned that the decision not to go to the Security Council, combined with the U.S. decision to support the 'Russian proposal,' indicates a disturbing shift in the Administration's policy on Iran and poses a danger to the U.S. and our allies."

National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said he hopes the plan "may provide a way out" of a two-year crisis over a nuclear program that Iran says is peaceful but was secretly built over 18 years.

Critics of the Russian plan, including some inside the administration, argue that it would allow Iran to master a critical component that could be diverted for atomic weapons work. Converted uranium, if enriched to bomb-grade, can be used for the core of a nuclear device.

U.N. nuclear inspectors are on the third year of an investigation of Iran's nuclear program. They have not found proof of a weapons program, but mounting evidence suggests that the Iranians have spent the past two decades acquiring the knowledge and technology that could be used to build an atomic bomb.

"This decision will facilitate Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and undermines international efforts to stop Iran from achieving such a capability," AIPAC told supporters and policymakers in a paper circulated after Thanksgiving. The position paper urged the Bush administration to work quickly toward reporting Iran's case to the Security Council, where it could face sanctions or an oil embargo.

AIPAC, which describes itself as nonpartisan, has criticized nearly every administration's Middle East policies, often speaking out when Israeli government officials express private frustration with U.S. policies.

But the news releases mark the first major criticism of the Bush White House and come as the administration is focused on problems in Iraq and has no clear path on Iran.

At the same time, Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has become increasingly hostile toward Israel. In October, two months after he took office, Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be "wiped off the map." Earlier this month, he told Iranians in a nationally televised speech that the murder of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis during World War II is "a myth."

"AIPAC is taking the public statements seriously. They're alarmed by a nuclear capability, and the administration appears to be adopting an approach that isn't changing Iranian behavior," said Dennis Ross, a U.S. envoy to the Middle East during the Clinton administration.

Ross said the criticisms, though serious, are unlikely to lead to an all-out rift between AIPAC and the administration. "At the end of the day, every administration does what it needs to do, but obviously they will have to pay attention to this," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...v=rss_politics


Iran, Russia discuss purchase of Tupolev-204
Moscow, Dec 25, IRNA

Iran-Russia-Plane
Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Qolamreza Ansari discussed on Saturday purchase of Tupolev-204 planes from Russia with the managing director of 'Aviastar Aviation Company' in Oliyanovsk province in Russia.

Last year, the representatives of the Russian company visited Tehran for finalizing the sale of 5-10 Tupolev-204.

Iran flag carrier Iran-air is interested to use the planes in its domestic routes.

Iran and Russia signed an agreement last year on technical aspects of TU 204-100.

Iran officially inducted the first Iran-140 passenger plane, built with the help of Ukrainians, into its aviation fleet at Mehrabad airport last year.

The airliner is groomed for flights in semi-state owned Safiran and Caspian airlines, the official added.

Iranian airlines are seeking to refurbish their aging fleet and meet demand in the face of rising passenger numbers despite their financial troubles and US sanctions which bar the sale of aircraft and parts to the Islamic Republic.

Ansari also visited the Vaz Vehicle manufacturing company in the province and talked to the officials on cooperation in automobile production.

The factory produces 'Patriot' model with the glove compartment build by Iran-Khodro Industrial Group under dlrs 20-million agreement signed last year.

Ansari also held a meeting with the provincial governor general on expansion of industrial cooperation between Iran and the Russian province.

The TU-100-204 is similar to the Boeing 757 and Airbus A-320 but its price and the expense for servicing are less than the two mentioned planes, said a Russian aviation committee official.

Managing Director of Iran Air Saeed Hessam said here last month that Iran Air expansion should be one of the priorities in the sustainable development drive.

He added that crating value-added of the transportation sector will also boost value-added in the economy as a whole.

Iran-Air faces problems due to sanctions imposed on the country, Hessam added.

He said that modernization of the fleet and upgrading of the services, improving security, reducing flight delays and increase in operational productivity are among his program for Iran's flag carrier.

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu...0000005532.htm

Gas venture begins production


TEHRAN, Dec 24: Senior Iranian energy officials on Saturday celebrated the Islamic state’s first gas production from the North Sea as part of a joint venture with BP.

The Rhum field is the UK’s largest undeveloped gas deposit. Production began on Tuesday with 130 million cubic feet a day and is expected to rise to 300 million cubic feet a day.

Iranian officials said the field was developed jointly by BP and a subsidiary of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), at a cost of £350m. Each company holds a 50pc stake.

“Based on today’s international gas market price, the gas deposit is worth around $4 billion,” deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian told the ISNA students news agency.

“The two companies signed a Production Service Association (PSA) contract making them partners in production and revenue,” he added.

NIOC Managing Director Mehdi Mirmoezi told ISNA the joint venture “will boost the Iranian National Oil Company’s financial situation and will strengthen the government.”—Reuters


Moscow wants to help Tehran enrich uranium

Source ::: Reuters

MOSCOW: Moscow told Iran yesterday that it remained ready to build a joint venture plant to enrich uranium in Russia, just days after an EU diplomat said Tehran had dismissed the compromise plan at talks in Vienna.

The plan, which would allow Tehran to establish a civilian nuclear energy programme but transfer enrichment to Russia, is aimed at ending a stalemate between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear programmes.

“The Russian embassy in Tehran gave to the Iranian side an official note saying that the previous Russian proposal of the creation ... of a joint Russian-Iranian company to enrich uranium remains in force,” the Foreign Ministry said. “The proposal is Russia’s input in looking for a mutually acceptable decision to settle the problem of the Iranian nuclear pogramme via political and diplomatic methods,” it said on its website www.mid.ru.

Britain, Germany and France last Wednesday reopened talks with Iran in Vienna and said the dialogue would resume on January 18.

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