Iranian officials and the UN's nuclear watchdog ended four days of talks here aimed at resolving questions related to the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, state media reported.
The conclusion of the talks comes as the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany were to meet in London yesterday to try to coordinate strategy toward Iran's disputed nuclear activities.
A Saudi Arabian official, meanwhile, said Arab states in the Persian Gulf had proposed to Tehran that they set up a consortium to provide Iran with enriched uranium as a way to defuse the nuclear fight.
SATISFACTION
The Iranian side expressed satisfaction with the UN discussions, which focused on P-1 and P-2 centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, said a report on the Web site of Iran's state broadcasting company.
The talks, which began Monday and ended Thursday, were the third round between the two sides to discuss the machines.
``In the talks, the agency's negotiators raised their questions and ambiguities over the machines, and the Iranian side provided necessary answers and information,'' the Web site quoted Javad Vaeedi, head of the Iranian negotiating team, as saying.
The report did not provide further details.
The discussions were the latest attempt by the Vienna, Austria-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address outstanding questions about the Iranian program, which some Western countries believe is cover for weapons development -- an allegation Tehran denies. IAEA deputy chief Olli Heinonen headed the UN delegation.
PROGRESS REPORT
The talks in Tehran were seen as critical because they will form the basis for a progress report on Iran's nuclear activities expected to be released this month by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN-affiliated IAEA.
In September, ElBaradei praised Iran's cooperation with the nuclear agency so far, but urged Tehran to answer all questions -- including those on reported experiments that link enrichment and missile technology -- before the end of the year.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly on Monday, ElBaradei said that ``Iran's cooperation and transparency, were keys'' to his report on Iran's nuclear program.
Centrifuges are used in enriching uranium, a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material for a nuclear warhead.
P-2 centrifuges are more sophisticated, consume less electricity and produce more enriched uranium than their predecessors, the P-1 centrifuges.
FURTHER SANCTIONS
The US, Britain and France are preparing to debate a third set of sanctions against the Islamic republic in response to Tehran's continued refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
Iran has rejected two UN Security Council resolutions requiring it to halt its enrichment program.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, suggested the Arab nations around the Persian Gulf form a consortium that would build a uranium enrichment plant to supply the region's states, including Iran, with reactor fuel.
Speaking with the Middle East Economic Digest in London, he said the plant should be sited in a neutral country outside the region.
``The US is not involved, but I don't think it [would be] hostile to this, and it would resolve a main area of tension between the West and Iran,'' the magazine quoted Saud as saying.
He said the idea had been proposed to Iran's government, which said it would consider the plan.
The Iranians previously ignored a similar proposal from Russia -- to host Iran's uranium enrichment facilities on its territory to allay Western concerns about monitoring.
The agreement between the IAEA and Iran commits Tehran to clear up by December all questions about its program -- much of which the Iranians had kept secret until discovered four years ago.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS