Iran announced today it was deferring until next week talks with Russia on its nuclear plans.
Russia's proposal to enrich uranium for Iran behalf is designed to allay world fears about Iranian scientists diverting nuclear material into bombs and to defuse a standoff that has already seen Tehran reported to the UN Security Council.
Iranian nuclear negotiator Javad Vaeedi said the talks would now start in Moscow on February 20th. "We still want to reach a formula to prove that we will not divert uranium enriched on Iranian soil," he told reporters.
Russia confirmed that Iran had asked to postpone the talks, originally scheduled for Thursday, until next Monday. "We are trying to agree on whether that date is acceptable for the Russian side," a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Iran has already undercut the aim of Moscow's proposal by resuming uranium enrichment in underground facilities near the town of Natanz, arguing the Islamic Republic has every right to purify the uranium it mines in its central deserts.
Iranian officials have said Russia will have to alter its terms to gain Tehran's consent for its proposal.
Diplomats in Vienna, home of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tehran wanted to spin out talks without committing itself to anything, calculating this could make the Security Council hesitate before taking any action against it.