Russia denies Iran nuclear proposal

By Mark Heinrich and Parisa Hafezi

VIENNA (Reuters) – Russia on Tuesday backed away from what
EU diplomats said was a proposal to let Iran do some atomic
research if it agreed to refrain from enriching uranium on an
industrial scale for 7-9 years.

Russia abandoned the informal proposal, aimed at finding a
compromise to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program, after
Western rejection of the idea.

The United States and the European Union want Iran to
shelve all work to enrich uranium because of suspicions that
Tehran is secretly trying to make nuclear weapons.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday that Iran
would be stopped from getting atomic bombs and faced
“meaningful consequences” if it persists in defying calls to
stop nuclear work which could lead to weapons.

In defying calls to halt all enrichment-related work, Iran
seems to be counting on divisions in the U.N. Security Council
over whether to resort to sanctions mooted by the United
States.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied after talks
with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he had made
a new proposal to defuse a crisis over Iran’s nuclear
aspirations that the Security Council may soon tackle.

“There is no compromise new proposal,” Lavrov said at a
news conference with Rice, who added: “The Russians did not
tell us of any new proposal …”

EU diplomats said Russian officials informally raised the
idea of a 7-9 year moratorium during consultations over the
past week. U.S., British, French and German rejection came
swiftly when word of the offer leaked on Tuesday.

“The Russians explored this idea with us,” said a diplomat,
who asked not to be identified, from one of the three EU states
- Germany, France and Britain – working on the Iran issue, the
so-called EU3.

The diplomat said when Lavrov “realized the EU3 and U.S.
would not accept its elements, he decided to deny it to save
face.”

RUSSIA, WEST SHARED GOAL

In Moscow, a senior Kremlin aide said Russia shared the
West’s goal of keeping bomb-grade nuclear technology out of
Iran but acknowledged it might be considering different
approaches.

“There are divergences … but the goal is a single one –
that Iran should be a predictable partner and there is no
threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” Sergei
Prikhodko told RIA Novosti news agency.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), alluded to Moscow’s reported formula when he
held out hope on Monday for a deal to defuse the crisis without
U.N. Security Council intervention against Iran. A council
debate on Iran looms after an IAEA board meeting now in
progress.

Iran says its nuclear program aims solely at generating
electricity. But it concealed atomic research from the IAEA for
18 years and its calls for Israel’s destruction alarm the West.

U.S. officials said any concession to let Iran feed uranium
gas into a small cascade of centrifuges would inevitably give
Tehran the know-how to make nuclear warheads.

Iran reacted coolly to reports of the Russian offer as
well, with one diplomat saying Tehran could accept a two-year
moratorium on industrial atomic fuel production, but not
longer, in exchange for assurances it could do centrifuge
research.

He said Iran’s idea of research entailed running nearly
3,000 enrichment centrifuges, which the West would deem
industrial-scale and could yield enough highly enriched uranium
for one bomb in a year if operating at full capacity.

“Any moratorium of more than two years and any suspension
of nuclear research activities (as the West demands) will make
it difficult to reach a deal. The face-saving solution is to
enrich uranium on a limited scale … during the two years,” he
said.

While Moscow and Beijing also do not want Iran to acquire
atom bomb technology, they want to protect big trade stakes
with Tehran and could use their council vetoes to block
sanctions.

(Additional reporting by Parinoosh Arami in Tehran, Carol
Giacomo and Deborah Zabarenko in Washington)