Russia and Iran in nuclear talks, uranium going to be moved to Russian territory

[brigadier Biggles]

The Iranians say a first day of talks between their officials and Russian diplomats and experts on Iran's nuclear programme has ended satisfactorily.

These centre on a proposal to transfer all of Iran's uranium enrichment programme to Russian territory.

It is backed by the European Union and the United States, which suspect Iran is trying to develop an atomic bomb. The Iranians strenuously deny this.

The talks come two days before Iran is due to resume its nuclear research.

rest here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4590702.stm

[Ambrosio Spinola]

Iran ready to remove UN seals at nuclear sites

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-09T000030Z_01_WRI768733_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml&archived=False

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said it was ready to remove U.N. seals at some atomic research and development sites on Monday, a move that would raise the stakes in Tehran's dispute with the West over its nuclear program.

European Union and U.S. officials say that, if Iran goes ahead with the move, diplomatic efforts to settle the issue would be endangered and that could lead to Tehran being referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei told Sky Television in an interview to be broadcast on Monday the world was "running out of patience with Iran".

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Iran's decision was "the wrong step in the wrong direction and is a cause of very serious concern".

Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful and says it has the right to enrich uranium on its own soil.

The EU and the United States back a plan put forward by Moscow for Iran to enrich uranium in Russia, which would ensure the uranium was only enriched to levels where it could be used to generate electricity and not to make nuclear bombs.

"We will remove the seals and we have announced that we are ready to start research from tomorrow," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a news conference on Sunday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was due on Monday to hold his first major news conference since taking office in August.

MISTRUST IN THE WEST

A staunch conservative, Ahmadinejad has resolutely refused to renounce Iran's right to uranium enrichment and has stirred up more mistrust in the West by dismissing the Holocaust as "a myth" and calling Israel a "tumor" to be "wiped off the earth".

Asefi said Iran would restart work when the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, was ready to supervise the removal of seals it put in place two years ago to freeze activities while talks went ahead