Iran, Russia sign nuclear fuel agreement opposed by US
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, Feb 27, Kyodo/OANA/IRNA -- Iran and Russia on Sunday signed an agreement for Moscow to supply fuel to Iran`s new nuclear reactor despite US objections to the deal. Gholamreza Aqazadeh, head of Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization, and Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia`s Federal Atomic Energy Agency, signed the agreement at the Bushehr nuclear power plant under construction in southern Iran. "Today, a very important development occurred, and that was the protocol on returning nuclear fuel, which we signed together. In the next few weeks, many Russian technicians will arrive in Bushehr to speed up the assembly operation" to finish the plant, Rumyantsev told a press conference with Aqazadeh, according to the Associated Press. Under the deal, Russia will ship enriched uranium fuel to the plant, with Iran repatriating all spent nuclear fuel to Russia, a requirement aimed at allaying US concerns. Washington has expressed fears that Iran may use the spent fuel, which could be reprocessed into weapons-grade plutonium, to develop nuclear arms. At a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush in Slovakia on Thursday, both sides agreed Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Putin said he believed Iran had no intention of doing so. Iran has maintained its nuclear program is entirely for peaceful purposes, while the United States accuses it of secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program. /2322/1432
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