VARIOUS: Iran Foreign minister tells Japan Tehran won't suspend atomic research, but optimism remains in some quarters

Record ID: 316102

  • Title: VARIOUS: Iran Foreign minister tells Japan Tehran won't suspend atomic research, but optimism remains in some quarters
  • Date: 28th February 2006
  • Summary: (BN09) TOKYO, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 27,2006) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI AND JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER TARO ASO ENTERING ROOM, POSING FOR PHOTOS AND SHAKING HANDS
  • Embargoed: 15th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Reuters ID: LVA18Y3LTDWBTKV8R10E7LUU9JER
  • Story Text: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Japan on Monday (February 27) 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.
    "I believe our nations' cooperative consultations will continue," Mottaki told Aso before their talks began.
    On Sunday (February 26), 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.
    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad sought to reassure Gulf Arab states on Monday (Febrauary 27) about Tehran's nuclear programme, calling for the removal off all nuclear weapons from the region and the rest of the world.
    "We call for the removal of all nuclear weapons from the Middle East as well as the wider world. This is what we called for at the United Nations and we will continue to press strongly for it," Ahmedinejad told reporters in Kuwait.
    Negotiations between Iran and Russia on the Iranian nuclear programme have made no significant progress despite talk of an outline agreement by both sides, the German and French foreign ministers said.
    "It appears that no decisive progress has been achieved," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters, citing reports from Moscow, after EU ministers discussed the negotiations at their monthly meeting in Brussels.
    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 programme.
    "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.
    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 programme.
    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.
    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.
    Arriving back from Tehran, the head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) Sergei Kiriyenko said on Monday (February 27) he was certain a diplomatic solution could be reached with Iran on its uranium enrichment programme.
    Kiriyenko said he was sure the issue could be resolved to satisfy the IAEA and demands of the international community.
    "For this a lot of work still needs to be done and we agreed that the talks will continue in Moscow in the very near future," he continued. "I am sure a diplomatic solution is possible."
    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 programme.
    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.
    Iran has already been reported to the U.N. Security Council -- which has the power to impose sanctions -- after failing to convince the world that its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful. Tehran flatly denies trying to develop nuclear arms.
    Analysts have suggested Iran is simply trying to drag out talks as long as possible to avert sanctions.
    A report by the U.N. watchdog said on Monday that Iran was forging ahead with a nuclear fuel enrichment programme in defiance of world pressure and was stonewalling U.N. probes spurred by fears it secretly wants atomic weapons.
    It said Iran had begun testing a cascade of 20 centrifuges at its Natanz pilot uranium-enrichment plant, pressing ahead with efforts to purify nuclear fuel.
    On March 6 the board of the United Nations' watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meets to discuss the IAEA's latest report on Iran's nuclear programme.
    The report may determine whether the United States and European powers push the Security Council to impose sanctions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register