Iran’s Mottaki quoted: won’t suspend research

By George Nishiyama and Teruaki Ueno

TOKYO (Reuters) – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki told Japan on Monday Tehran would not suspend its
atomic research and development, casting doubt over whether a
Russian agreement would defuse a crisis over Iran’s nuclear
ambitions.

On Sunday, Iran’s nuclear chief said his nation had reached
a “basic” agreement with Russia on a joint venture to enrich
uranium, but it was unclear what the deal involved and both
Russian and Iranian officials had identified serious obstacles
to a full deal.

These principally concerned a suspension of Tehran’s
home-grown uranium enrichment work, the main demand of Western
powers which are threatening to press for U.N. sanctions. Iran
insists it is carrying out peaceful research to fulfil its
energy needs.

“We have been conducting nuclear research and development
on a laboratory scale, and it’s impossible for us to suspend
this again,” Mottaki was quoted by a Japanese Foreign Ministry
official as saying in a meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

Mottaki, who is in Tokyo on a three-day visit, also told
Aso that the Russian proposal had no references in it to Iran’s
rights to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.

“We have the right to a peaceful use of nuclear energy and
we cannot accept nuclear apartheid,” he told Aso.

Aso, though, urged Iran to relieve international concerns
by making a “wise and positive response” to the Russian
proposal.

“Japan does not want to see Iran be isolated,” Aso was
quoted as saying.

DEFUSE SUSPICIONS

The original Russian proposal had been for Iran’s uranium
to be enriched in Russia to defuse suspicions that Iran might
divert some nuclear fuel into a weapons program.

However, Iran has always insisted upon its right to enrich
the uranium it mines in its central desert on its own soil, and
it was unclear how the original Russian proposal could be
tailored to please Tehran.

With time running out for Iran to avoid formal referral to
the U.N. Security Council at a March 6 board meeting of the
IAEA, Japan hopes to persuade Iran — its third-largest oil
supplier — to stop producing enriched uranium, which can be
used for nuclear weapons.

Japan, which imports about 15 percent of its crude oil from
Iran, or some 500,000 barrels a day, has kept up good ties with
the Islamic Republic, and Japanese officials have said this
gives Tokyo a unique role to play in defusing the tensions.

“I believe our nations’ cooperative consultations will
continue,” Mottaki told Aso before their talks began.

At the March 6 meeting, the IAEA board will discuss the
U.N. watchdog’s latest report on Iran’s nuclear program which
may determine whether the United States and European powers
push the Security Council to impose sanctions.

The stand-off has posed a dilemma for Japan, which wants to
stay in diplomatic sync with the United States, its main
security ally, while also pursuing the development of an
Iranian oil field seen by Tokyo as vital to its energy
strategy.

Flying in the face of U.S. objections, Tokyo went ahead two
years ago with a deal on a billion-dollar project to develop
the Azadegan oil field in southern Iran, estimated to hold the
world’s second-biggest single oil reserves.

The Japanese government has a 36 percent stake in Japan’s
biggest oil developer, INPEX Corp., which plans to develop the
southern part of Azadegan, estimated to hold 26 billion barrels
of oil.

The Azadegan development is one of the biggest foreign
investments in Iran, and Japanese media have estimated that the
project may cost up to $1.7 billion.

(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano and Elaine Lies)