Russia, Iran make new bid to break impasse

Russian and Iranian negotiators make a fresh bid in Moscow on Wednesday to reach a compromise that might defuse Tehran's stand-off with the West over its nuclear program. Iranian officials, headed by top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, were due to meet a Russian delegation for further discussion of Moscow's proposal to carry out uranium enrichment for the Islamic Republic on Russian soil.

Larijani's presence, matched by that of Russian Security Council chief Igor Ivanov, put the new round of talks on a higher footing and raised hopes Iran was taking the Russian proposal seriously, something the West at times has doubted. "We are optimistic we can agree with our Iranian partners ... we think we can come to an agreement that a joint venture on the soil of the Russian Federation will be able to meet Iran's needs fully," Russian President Vladimir Putin told a news conference during a visit to Hungary.

Moscow sees the enrichment joint venture as a way out of confrontation, but diplomats in Europe and the United States doubt the proposal will satisfy Iran, which they suspect of covertly seeking nuclear weapons. Although Tehran says it has a "basic" agreement with Russia about the scheme, it has refused so far to give up what it sees as its right to enrich uranium at home.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran had the right to move ahead with its uranium-enrichment program to large-scale commercial production of nuclear fuel for power plants, but added that it was ready to seek a compromise. "We are in a position to cooperate, reach a comprehensive compromise with all the parties ... We are flexible," he said in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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