tagged w/ Nuclear Talks
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- CNN Breaking News...
Report: Iran now nuclear self-sufficient
Report: Iran now able to process its own raw uranium
December 5th, 2010
04:56 AM ET
Iran now produces everything it needs for the nuclear fuel cycle, making its nuclear program self-sufficient, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization told state media Sunday.
The Islamic republic has begun producing yellowcake, Ali Akbar Salehi told Press TV.
Yellowcake is an intermediate stage in producing uranium ores, Press TV said.
The United States and its allies fear that Iran is trying to produce a nuclear bomb, but Iran has denied the allegations.- CNN Breaking News...
Report: Iran now nuclear self-sufficient
Report: Iran now... more
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Iran agrees to send uranium to Turkey, report says
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 17, 2010 2:04 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Iran has agreed to ship its low-enriched uranium to Turkey, state media said Monday.
Western nations had been asking Iran to send the low-level uranium out of the country to be enriched elsewhere, but the country had resisted until now.
On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was heading to Iran to join nuclear talks in Tehran involving Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The meeting in Tehran sought to reach a breakthrough in the showdown over Iran's nuclear program, according to Erdogan.
The last-minute trip followed a "signal" from the talks, which are intended to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear energy program, Erdogan told reporters before departing. Erdogan indicated the signal involved Iran's agreement to swap its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, CNN Turk reported.
Erdogan said he hoped an agreement in Tehran would stop the U.N. Security Council from its negotiations on tougher sanctions on Iran.
"The Security Council was contemplating a step in the direction of sanctions as of yesterday," Erdogan said. "As a part of our talks, this has been postponed. Now with this step we are going to take, I hope that we will have the opportunity to overcome these problems."
Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency made no mention of the nuclear issue in reporting earlier that Lula was sitting down with Ahmadinejad. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia both have said they back Lula's efforts to resolve the long-running, high-stakes stalemate.
"This could be the last chance before the U.N. Security Council makes the already known decisions," Medvedev said, referring to the U.N. decision on imposing sanctions against Iran.
Sarkozy said earlier that he had spoken with Lula by phone to assure him that Paris supports his efforts to resolve the impasse.
The United States and many other countries believe that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu left for Tehran to join the Iran-Brazil talks. Erdogan said Sunday the anticipated signal from Iran was received and he was changing his schedule to travel to Tehran, postponing a planned visit to Azerbaijan.
Erdogan's statement indicated an agreement in which Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium to be turned into fuel rods suitable for Turkey's nuclear power reactor that makes medical isotopes.
"After our high-level meeting in Tehran, I believe we will have the opportunity to start the process regarding the swap," Erdogan said. "We said that we will go to Tehran if the swap takes place in Turkey, and we received news that the text includes a reference to this. That's why we are going. Otherwise we wouldn't have gone."
Turkey and Brazil have been working on a joint offer based on the nuclear swap deal offered previously to Tehran. Both countries are temporary members of the U.N. Security Council and have been working toward a diplomatic solution that does not involve sanctions.
Lula is in Iran ahead of the Group of 15 developing nations meeting in Tehran. The group actually has 17 members -- Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
Lula also met separately with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on his trip, according to Iranian media reports. State-run Press TV reported Khameini emphasized to Lula the need for relations between independent states such as Brazil and Iran in order to reduce the influence of superpowers such as the United States.
"The only way to change the oppressive relations in the world today is through the formation of closer ties between independent states," Khameini said, according to Press TV. "Superpowers have defined vertical relations in the world which places a superpower at the top. These relations must be changed and their change is possible."
PHOTO CAPTION: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva review an honor guard in Tehran.Iran agrees to send uranium to Turkey, report says
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 17,... more
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A U.S. diplomat met on Saturday with North Korea's second-ranking official involved in stalled six-country nuclear negotiations, a move that could be a step toward reconvening the talks.A U.S. diplomat met on Saturday with North Korea's second-ranking official... more
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In front of 200,000 people in Berlin, Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama delivered a speech emphasizing environmental concerns and world peace.In front of 200,000 people in Berlin, Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate... more
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Iran has given "no clear answer" to a package of incentives offered in exchange for it suspending its nuclear programme, Javier Solana, the EU's diplomatic chief, said following talks on Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Despite the positive mood before Saturday's talks in Geneva, little tangible progress had been expected after Iranian officials said they would not halt uranium enrichment.
"It was a constructive meeting, but still we didn't get the answer to our questions," Solana said at a joint news conference with Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
"We hope very much we get the answer and we hope it will be done in a couple of weeks."
Jalili said Tehran would remain constructive and asked that Western powers continue with negotiations.
"Iran is calling on the Western powers to resume the dialogue," he said.
But the Iranian negotiator also confirmed that Tehran would not enter into any discussion about freezing Iran's uranium enrichment programme, which the US has said would be essential for real negotaitions to take place.
Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Geneva, said: "There was a lot of politeness from both sides but nothing substantial."
US participation
The presence of William Burns, the number three official at the US state department, at the talks had cast the negotiations in a positive light.
His attendance marked the first time in almost thirty years that senior US and Iranian diplomats had met face-to-face and was widely seen as a major policy shift by Washington, which has not had any diplomatic relations with Iran since the Islamic Revolution.
"It's up to him to choose his attitude," Christina Gallach, Solana's spokeswoman, said.
But she added that his presence was a "strong signal of the US support for a negotiated solution".
Following the talks, Washington insisted that Tehran give up its nuclear ambitions.
"We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between co-operation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation," Sean McCormack, a state department spokesman, said.
McCormack confirmed Burns did not hold separate talks with any of the Iranian delegation to the talks.
Iran has given "no clear answer" to a package of incentives offered in... more
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High-level international talks on Iran's nuclear program ended inconclusively today in Geneva, with European envoy Javier Solana telling reporters that Iran needed to give a more definitive answer within two weeks.
The meeting was significant because for the first time a U.S. diplomat, Undersecretary of State William J. Burns, joined other envoys in meeting with the top Iranian nuclear negotiator. U.S. officials had said the shift in Bush administration policy was intended to help lead to a breakthrough in the impasse over the Iranian program, but if Iran failed to respond positively, it only would unify the international coalition dealing with Iran.
"It was a constructive meeting, but still we didn't get the answer to our questions," Solana said at a news conference. "We hope very much we get the answer and we hope it will be done in a couple of weeks."
Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili described the talks as "constructive and progressing," adding that "on the manner of continuing the negotiations we have understood better our mutual positions."
Iran has adamantly denied it embarked on a nuclear program -- which it hid for 18 years -- to develop fuel for weapons, arguing it is legally enriching uranium to generate electricity. The U.N. Security Council has passed four resolutions demanding that Iran halt uranium enrichment, and a coalition made up of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany has offered Iran a package of economic, political and security incentives if it agreed to the suspension and began negotiations on constraints on its nuclear work. High-level international talks on Iran's nuclear program ended inconclusively... more
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Iran has given "no clear answer" to a Western-backed proposal to suspend its controversial nuclear activities, says EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Mr Solana said the two sides would resume talks in two weeks' time, when he hoped for a decision from Tehran.
He was speaking after talks in Geneva with top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and representatives from the UN Security Council and the US.
The US said Iran needed to choose between co-operation and confrontation.
State department spokesman Sean McCormack said Iran had two weeks to "give a clear answer" or face further isolation.
In a shift of policy, a senior US official, William Burns, was present at the Geneva talks, although he made no public comment.
Mr Burns delivered a "clear simple message" that Washington was "serious" about the incentives package but that it would only negotiate with Iran if it upheld its side, Mr McCormack said.
Playing for time?
Diplomats had hoped that Iran would respond to a so-called "freeze-for-freeze" offer, under which a freeze of Iran's uranium enrichment programme at its current levels would be matched by a Western pledge not to strengthen sanctions on Tehran.
"It was a constructive meeting, but still we didn't get the answer to our questions," Mr Solana told reporters. Iran has given "no clear answer" to a Western-backed proposal to suspend its... more
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Tehran on Saturday ruled out freezing its enrichment program, casting doubt over the sense of key nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers less than an hour after they began.
The talks — with the U.S. in attendance for the first time — had raised expectations of possible compromise on a formula that would have had Iran agree to stop expanding its enrichment activities. In exchange, the six powers, including the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, would hold off on passing new U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
But the comments from Keyvan Imani, a member of the Iranian delegation, appeared to indicate that Tehran was not prepared to budge on enrichment — at least going into the talks.
"Suspension — there is no chance for that," he told reporters gathered in the courtyard of Geneva's ornate City Hall, the venue of the negotiations.
The presence of Undersecretary of State William Burns at the talks — the first instance of the Americans attending such meetings — had led to hopes Iran would compromise on suspension.
The enrichment issue is key because the activity can produce either nuclear fuel or the material used in the fissile core of warheads. Iran has defied three sets of U.N. sanctions demanding it cease its program, saying it has a right to its peaceful uses under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But there is growing concern the Islamic Republic might want to generate the fissile core of warheads instead.
Recent Iranian statements suggest Tehran is looking to improve ties with the United States, with officials speaking positively of deliberations by the U.S. administration to open an interests section — an informal diplomatic presence — in Tehran after closing its embassy decades ago.Tehran on Saturday ruled out freezing its enrichment program, casting doubt over the... more
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A senior United States official is taking part for the first time in international talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.
The official, William Burns, is joining envoys from the EU and permanent members of the UN security council.
They are expected to discuss with the country's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, incentives for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
Mr Burns' attendance is being seen as a major shift in US policy.
The US and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the taking of hostages at the US embassy in Tehran.
Formal contact between the two countries have been extremely limited, though last year they met at ambassadorial level to discuss security in Iraq.
Conciliatory move
Since 2002, when President George W Bush famously named Iran as one of the countries that formed the "axis of evil", his administration had insisted that no face-to-face talks would be held unless Iran suspended the enrichment of uranium, which it says could be used to produce nuclear weapons. A senior United States official is taking part for the first time in international... more
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Iran hopes that Saturday's talks in Switzerland on its nuclear program will lead to a "positive outcome," the state-run news agency quoted Iran's foreign minister as saying.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, is in Geneva to meet with a delegation led by the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. Top U.S. diplomat William Burns is sitting in on the meeting, marking a major shift in U.S. policy on Iran.
Iran's IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is "hoping that the upcoming talks between nuclear Iran and the Group 5+1 would lead to (a) positive outcome."
The group includes the six world powers -- the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany -- which agreed on a package of incentives for Iran if it stops uranium enrichment, or penalties if it refuses.
Burns and Jalili are not expected to speak directly to each other at the meeting, which was called to hear the Iranians' response to the incentive package.
A senior U.S. administration official told CNN Wednesday that Washington simply wants to remind Tehran that there are consequences -- possibly more sanctions -- if Tehran doesn't accept the offer of the refreshed incentives.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Burns will be under strict orders that he can listen but not engage in one-on-one discussions with Jalili. If possible, McCormack said, Burns will hammer home the U.S. position that Iran can end its political and economic isolation if it stops enriching uranium.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for research and civilian energy purposes, but the United States believes the process will enable Iran to produce nuclear weapons.
The decision to send Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, is meant to send a strong signal but does not indicate a change of the U.S. position on Iran, McCormack said.
Until now, U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that the United States would talk to Iran only after Tehran halted its nuclear program.
EU officials have said they want the meeting to advance discussions with Iran and break the deadlock over the country's nuclear activities.
Iranian officials have expressed hope that Saturday's talks will be held in a new atmosphere of trust with no threats.
The U.S. participation in the talks is a "new positive approach," Mottaki said Friday, in comments carried by IRNA.
"I hope this progress (in the format) will also have (an) impact on the content of the talks," Mottaki said.
McCormack and others refused to predict whether sending Burns to the Saturday meeting will set off a carefully executed series of diplomatic maneuvers, the first of which would be for Iran to "freeze" its nuclear program while the United States and its allies freeze any new sanctions, followed by a formal "suspension" on both sides.Iran hopes that Saturday's talks in Switzerland on its nuclear program will lead... more
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