Iran Rejects Nuclear Compromise

Reuters, CNN.com:

Iran said on Friday it would not accept any proposal aimed at solving its nuclear standoff with the West that did not allow it to enrich uranium on its own territory. "For Iran it is important to have (uranium) enrichment on its own soil," Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. READ MORE

He was responding to questions about reports that Russia planned to propose a compromise plan, with tentative backing from the European Union and Washington.

Under the proposal Iran, which insists its nuclear program would never be used to make atomic arms, would be allowed to "convert" uranium, a preliminary stage in the process of making nuclear fuel.

But the later, more sensitive process of uranium enrichment would be carried out only as a joint venture with Russia on Russian soil.

European diplomats have said the proposal would be acceptable to Washington, the EU and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But Larijani's comments appeared to confirm their doubts as to whether Iran would forego enrichment on its own soil.

Speaking to domestic journalists, Larijani said Iran had not received a formal proposal from Russia but would study it if it did.

"We are not opposed to enriching uranium outside our borders for other countries if it is in line with peaceful purposes," the ISNA student news agency quoted him as saying.

Igor Ivanov, secretary of Russia's Security Council, is to visit Iran in coming days for talks over the nuclear issue.

Tehran is hoping to avoid referral to the U.N. Security Council later this month when the IAEA board meets to discuss its case.