By DPA,
Vienna : Multilateral talks on processing Iran’s uranium abroad were held up Tuesday by Tehran’s refusal to accept France as a direct partner in a deal, according to a source close to the talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in Tehran that Tuesday his country does not want France at the Vienna talks, and that it would negotiate only with Russia and the US, the other parties on the table.
The four delegations were in Vienna to discuss a plan to export most of Iran’s low-enriched uranium, enriching it in Russia to a higher level, processing it further in France, and sending it back to Tehran, where it is to fuel a medical-purpose reactor.
The source said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which hosts the talks, had drawn up a compromise in which Iran would make a deal with Russia, and Russia would conclude a subcontract with France.
By the afternoon, full negotiations had not restarted as delegations were meeting bilaterally.
Iran argues that it rejects France because of a dispute over Tehran’s minority share in France’s uranium enrichment company.
Because of UN Security Council sanctions, France has not paid Iran dividends in past years.
Among Western countries, France has taken the strongest stance in favour of new sanctions if Iran does not cooperate on its contentious nuclear programme.
A diplomat in Vienna said Monday evening that “France is still part of the deal,” despite Iranian media reports to the contrary.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, whose agency is hosting the meeting, said after Monday’s first round of talks that they had been “quite constructive” and that most technical details of the deal had been discussed.
Diplomats close to the talks said that there might be no final agreement in Vienna, as some of the countries involved would have to get clearance from their capitals.
Iran agreed to the basics of the fuel scheme in talks with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US Oct 1 in Geneva, which foresees sending most of Iran’s enriched uranium stock abroad.
But the exact amount and the timing of the uranium shipments as well as the price to be paid by Iran have to be worked out in Vienna.
Western countries involved have described the deal as a possibility to build trust in Iran’s nuclear intentions and to smooth the path of further wide-ranging nuclear talks that are set to continue before the end of the month.