Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country is serious about
accepting a deal to have nuclear fuel produced abroad.
“We think all parties have
the political will to fulfill this exchange,” Mottaki said in remarks at the
Munich Security Conference late yesterday. “The Islamic Republic is also
serious. We are approaching a final agreement that can be accepted by all
parties.”
The U.S., its European
allies and United Nations inspectors suspect Iran is using its uranium
enrichment program to build a nuclear bomb. The U.S. wants more UN sanctions
aimed at halting the program, which Iran says is for peaceful uses such as
power generation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signaled the U.S. wants to
target Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite military branch with broad
business interests and involvement in nuclear and missile development. Three
previous rounds of UN sanctions include a 2007 measure freezing assets and
banning travel for some Revolutionary Guard-affiliated companies and officials.
With pressure building for
further sanctions, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said earlier this week that Iran is
ready to send uranium abroad for enrichment as demanded by the United Nations.
The process can be used to make nuclear reactor fuel as well as bomb-grade
material for nuclear arms. Russia and France have offered to do reactor fuel
enrichment for Iran.
Mottaki Meets IAEA Chief
Mottaki said he would
discuss the nuclear fuel offer today with International Atomic Energy Agency
chief Yukiya Amano who is also attending the Munich
conference.
The U.S. State Department
said it’s waiting for Iran to formally communicate to the IAEA a willingness to
sign on to a nuclear fuel transfer agreement.
“We will look for actions
as opposed to just words,” Philip Crowley, a State Department spokesman, said
on Feb. 3. “We’re just seeking clarification through the IAEA as to whether
Tehran has changed its current position.”
U.S. National Security
Adviser James Jones, who’s also attending the Munich
Security Conference, won’t meet Mottaki, National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said in an e-mail.
Mottaki said last week “new
ideas” on the supply of nuclear fuel for a Tehran research reactor were raised
in talks with French and Brazilian officials in Davos, Switzerland.
Security Council
The five permanent members
of the United Nations Security Council -- the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China
- - and Germany have tried to persuade Iran to scale back its nuclear program.
In October they offered to enrich the fuel needed for the reactor abroad to
make sure it isn’t boosted to weapons grade. Iran has been calling for amendments
to the plan.
Russia is increasingly
alarmed about Iran and is moving closer to the West on how to deal with the
nuclear program, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the foreign relations
committee of the Russian parliament’s lower house, said on Feb. 4.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday in Berlin he’ll tell
Mottaki that the world wants answers on the nuclear program. Lavrov said he’ll
press Mottaki during talks at the Munich meeting to demonstrate Iran’s uranium
enrichment activities are peaceful.
Rocket Launch
Iran fired a satellite into
space on Feb. 3 at a ceremony attended by Ahmadinejad. The launch prompted
Western concern that the rocket technology, like Iran’s nuclear program, might
have military applications. This is denied by Iran.
China is one obstacle to
new UN measures. It can veto Security Council resolutions, and its government
is resisting stronger penalties on Iran, China’s third-largest source of crude
oil. Many non-U.S. energy companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc have invested
in Iran, which has the world’s second-biggest natural-gas and oil reserves. (from
Bloomberg)