World powers greet Iran's nuclear overture with caution (Roundup)

Feb 3, 2010, 13:14 GMT

Vienna - World powers on Wednesday cautiously welcomed signals by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he would come around on a multinational nuclear fuel deal, while calling on Tehran to follow through on the announcements.

Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran was ready to ship its low- enriched uranium out of the country, in exchange for a more highly processed version to be used as fuel in a medical-purpose reactor in Tehran.

The statements made in an interview with state television marked a shift in positions after Tehran had stalled for several months on the confidence-building deal that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna had drafted after negotiations with the US, Russia, France and Iran.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he welcomed Ahmadinejad's statements, if Iran's leadership was indeed ready to have low-enriched uranium sent abroad for further enrichment.

Lavrov expressed regret that Tehran had so far rejected an initial agreement on the fuel deal, which had been reached in October. 'This mistrust by our Iranian partners astonished us very much,' he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

In Washington, a White House spokesman said Tuesday that Iran should inform the IAEA it wants to adopt the proposal. 'If Mr Ahmadinejad's comments reflect an updated Iranian position, we look forward to Iran informing the IAEA,' National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said.

Along with China, Britain, France and German, Russia and the US are part of the group of six countries involved in seeking a solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

Britain and France also indicated that Tehran's Foreign Ministry has yet to inform the IAEA about its readiness to strike a deal.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: 'We will judge Iran not by their words, but by their deeds.'

Westerwelle added that the international community would only be convinced not to impose further sanctions if Iran made a serious return to the negotiating table, a call that was echoed also in London.

The British Foreign Office said that Iran's acceptance of the fuel deal would be a 'positive sign of their willingness to engage with the international community on nuclear issues.'

The IAEA did not comment on Ahmadinejad's announcements.

So far, the UN Security Council has slapped Iran with three rounds of sanctions in a fruitless attempt to get the country to stop its controversial uranium enrichment programme.

Western powers have been pushing for additional punitive measures, but China and Russia have shown little appetite for more sanctions.

However, China's Foreign Ministry also struck a cautious tone. A spokesman said the involved parties and the IAEA would hopefully continue to talk about nuclear fuel supply for the Tehran reactor.

Meanwhile, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi warned on a visit in Israel that the West's efforts for talks with Iran 'will not suffer intentional stalling' and that the solution lies in sanctions and further negotiations, in order to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The IAEA and the other involved countries had urged Iran to accept the deal as a confidence-building measure, as it would remove from Iran a large share of nuclear material, which could theoretically be used to make nuclear weapons.

According to the IAEA's plan, Iran's low-enriched uranium would be be exported to Russia for further enrichment, and then to France for processing into fuel for the Tehran reactor.