Hopes of a compromise deal on IranÂ’s nuclear programme faded yesterday as Russian and Iranian negotiators ended two days of talks with few signs of progress.
Russia wants Iran to move its uranium enrichment work to Russian soil to allay Western fears that Tehran is secretly developing a nuclear bomb. Iran refuses to accept the condition that it should reinstate the freeze on uranium enrichment on its own territory that it broke last month.
Both sides agreed to continue their discussions when Sergei Kiriyenko, RussiaÂ’s atomic chief, visits Iran tomorrow, but diplomats said that that left little time before a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on March 6. That meeting could start a process leading to IranÂ’s punishment by the UN Security Council.
Russia is building IranÂ’s first nuclear power plant and stands to lose billions of dollars if sanctions are imposed on Iran. President Putin also hopes to score diplomatic points by defusing the crisis in RussiaÂ’s first year as president of the G8 group of leading industrial powers. |