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No short-term hope in nuclear talks, says Iran's atomic chief

30 August 2011 [09:51] - TODAY.AZ
Iran's nuclear chief said Monday that he had no hope that talks with world powers would in the short-term settle the dispute over Iran's atomic programme, dpa reported.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was referring to talks with the six world powers Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States on finding a settlement in the dispute over Iran's nuclear projects.

"I do not believe that our nuclear negotiations with the six powers would on the short-term lead to any solution," Fereydoun Abbasi told the IRNA news agency.

Abbasi also implied that Iran would not accept the latest proposal by Russia to adopt a step-by-step approach for enabling resumption of nuclear talks - suspended after the most recent talks in January in Istanbul failed to bring any results.

"Whatever proposal which would weaken our (nuclear) rights would not be accepted ... whether step-by-step or whatever else," said Abbasi, who is also Iranian vice-president.

Tehran has so far rejected the main demand by the six powers, namely the suspension of its uranium enrichment process.

Iran has constantly demanded acknowledgement of its right to pursue a civil nuclear programme, including the controversial enrichment process, as a major pre-condition for the talks.

The world powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have so far rejected the Iranian condition.

There were hopes that nuclear talks would be resumed after the foreign ministers of Iran and Russia, Ali-Akbar Salehi and Sergey Lavrov, met earlier this month in Moscow.

At the same time Iran allowed an IAEA team Iran to visit its nuclear sites, which was also believed to be a sign of goodwill by Tehran.

Abbasi also put an end to speculation that a uranium swap deal could bring any breakthrough in the stalled nuclear talks.

"As far the swap deal and stop to our nuclear fuel production are concerned, we will no longer negotiate on this issue, either," the atomic chief said.

According to the deal signed in May last year in Tehran between Iran Turkey and Brazil, 1.2 tons of Iranian low-enriched uranium would be stored in Turkey for exchange with nuclear fuel rods to be used in a medical reactor in Tehran.

Tehran said at that time that the deal could bring a breakthrough in the nuclear dispute, but the international community has been sceptical, as the agreement does not address the key issue of uranium enrichment.

Iran had also said that if the swap deal would be implemented, the country would be willing to stop the uranium enrichment at 20 per cent level for producing fuel for the Tehran reactor.

"The production will not stop and we have by now enriched sufficient uranium at 20 percent level for the Tehran reactor," Abbasi said.

The atomic chief further said that the Bushehr power plant in southern Iran would become operational in November this year and be inaugurated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Russian-built plant was scheduled to become operational by the end of this month but once again delayed due to technical aspects.

The Russian-built 1,000-megawatt reactor was opened after more than three and a half decades in August last year and scheduled to go on line before the end of that year, but its launch has been delayed several times.


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