Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Iran Delivers Nuclear Proposals to World Powers

By VOA News
09 September 2009

Iran's foreign minister has handed over a new package of proposals related to its controversial nuclear program to representatives of six world powers.

Witnesses say Manouchehr Mottaki submitted the proposals at a ceremony Wednesday at Iran's Foreign Ministry.

Details of the proposals are not known. But Mottaki said Tuesday he hopes the package will spur a new round of nuclear talks.

Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - are considering imposing additional sanctions against Iran if it does not cooperate on its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, a U.S. official says Iran is "moving closer" to being able to build an atomic bomb.

U.S. envoy Glyn Davies said Wednesday that Iran could already possess sufficient enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon.

Davies spoke at a meeting of the governing board of the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna.

Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country will not negotiate on what he said is its right to develop nuclear technology. But he said Iran will discuss ways to cooperate on the "peaceful use" of nuclear energy.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons.

The United States and its Western allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.