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| Tuesday, 30 November 2004 |
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Iran pledges again to halt all nuke enrichment work VIENNA, Monday (Reuters) Iran has agreed to what Western diplomats hope is a comprehensive suspension of all activities that could yield fuel for nuclear weapons, half a year after a similar deal between Iran and the European Union collapsed. The agreement was to be presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday, lifting an immediate threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions over U.S. accusations it is trying to develop nuclear bombs. Iran, though oil-rich, says its atomic programme is aimed solely at generating electricity. Under the terms of the deal, Tehran pledged to suspend all activities related to plutonium reprocessing and the enrichment of uranium, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or, when very highly enriched, in weapons. In exchange, France, Britain and Germany have offered on behalf of the EU a package of economic and political benefits, including a promise to build a light-water nuclear reactor that is more difficult to use for weapons purposes than other types. In a cliffhanger week of backroom haggling, Iran had asked that 20 centrifuges - which enrich uranium by spinning at supersonic speeds - be exempted from the deal it reached with the EU's "Big Three" freezing its nuclear programme on Nov. 7. Under intense international pressure, it withdrew the demand, which had threatened to wreck the entire deal. |
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