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Europe offers Iran civilian nuke support
European negotiators on Friday offered Iran long term support for its civilian nuclear program, including access to nuclear fuel, in exchange for a binding commitment not to develop atomic weapons, the Associated Press reported.
Iranian Muslims pray during Friday prayers at Tehran University August 5, 2005. Britain, France and Germany submitted proposals to Iran on Friday for economic and political cooperation meant to persuade Tehran to abandon all activities that might be used to make a nuclear bomb. [Reuters] Britain, France and Germany �� which are spearheading diplomatic efforts on behalf of the European Union �� also want Tehran to "make a legally binding commitment not to withdraw" from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to a copy of the proposals obtained by The Associated Press. Iran has long claimed that its nuclear program is solely for generating electricity and other nonmilitary uses and that it has a right under the NPT to a fuel cycle, but Washington accuses it of trying to produce nuclear weapons. The three European countries handed the proposals, contained in a 34-page document, to Tehran on Friday. The package offers Iran trade, political and security cooperation, but in return it demands Tehran stop pursuing nuclear technology that could also be used for making nuclear bombs. The proposal would "recognize that Iran should have sustained access to nuclear fuel for the Light Water Reactors forming Iran's civil nuclear industry," said the summary of the proposals. "Russia has committed itself formally to supplying nuclear fuel for the lifetime of Russian-built reactors in Iran" while the European Union nations would work with Iran to develop a framework to provide additional assurances that external supplies of fuel could be relied upon in the long term, according to the document. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi acknowledged Tehran had received the proposal and said it would be studied "today and tomorrow" and a response would be issued "soon." The proposals came on the eve of the swearing-in of Iran's new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said his country will not pursue atomic weapons but also will not submit to international pressure to abandon its controversial nuclear program, comments similar to those during the past year by Iranian leaders. Some Europeans worry that Ahmadinejad �� who won presidential elections last month with the backing of hard-line elements of Iran's Islamic regime �� could take a tougher stance in negotiations than his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said it will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday on Iran. The IAEA could report Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose economic and political sanctions. On Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said such a move has been Washington's "long-standing position" if Tehran refuses to relent. The three European countries have been pressing Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment activities in exchange for economic aid, technical support and backing for Iran's efforts to join mainstream international organizations. Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity, but further enrichment makes it suitable for a nuclear bomb. The Europeans thus don't want Iran to have its own nuclear fuel cycle. Intense negotiations have so far failed to break the deadlock. Iran had threatened to resume uranium conversion at its plant in Isfahan this week but its chief nuclear negotiator, Hasan Rowhani said Tehran would push back the start date to "early next week" to give the IAEA time to install surveillance equipment inside the facility. In Paris, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he considered the proposals to be "ambitious and generous." "I hope that Iran will hear the voice of reason and that it will take the path of negotiation and dialogue, and that it will not move toward a resumption of nuclear activities," he told Europe-1 radio. "We are even ready to support a civilian, but of course, non-proliferating, nuclear program."
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