Larijani says Iran's nuclear plans are purely peaceful

Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, on a one-day trip to Beijing to seek China's support, said on Thursday the Russian proposal - that Iran's uranium fuel be enriched on Russian soil rather than in Iran - needed further discussion.

Tehran has previously shown little interest in the idea, intended to ensure it does not covertly divert enriched fuel towards a weapons programme.
It had repeatedly insisted it has no plans to build bombs but has the right to enrich uranium fuel on its territory for nuclear power generation.

"The Russian suggestion is a useful one, but needs to be discussed further," Larijani told a Beijing news conference.

Support

Larijani later said Iran was willing to show flexibility but rejected the "language of force", an apparent reference to the threat of UN sanctions.

Kong Quan, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said earlier that China wanted other countries to consider Moscow's proposal. "We think the Russian proposal is a good attempt to break this stalemate," he said.

China is one of five permanent UN Security Council members

Kong also reiterated China's stance that it preferred diplomatic efforts to any other method of ending the global stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme.

"We always advocate resolving issues through negotiations. Under this context we support all diplomatic efforts to properly resolve the issues."

China's is one of five permanent council members with veto-wielding power and has said it prefers diplomacy in dealing with Iran's disputed nuclear activities.

Tougher stand

But the US and Europe have been lobbying with Beijing to take a tougher stand, and have sought its support for a European-led drive to have Iran brought before the Security Council, which can impose a range of sanctions or other measures.

China, Russia and India are allies and trading partners of Iran and have been reluctant to see Tehran punished or ostracised through the Security Council.

On Tuesday, Larijani met Igor Ivanov, the Russian Security Council chief, in Moscow, and was positive about a Russian proposal to allow Tehran to enrich its uranium in Russia.

Commenting on Thursday's talks, the Iranian embassy in Beijing said the meetings would focus on "mutual cooperation and consultation" and "regional and international issues".

China's hesitation over the Security Council referral has prompted suggestions that Beijing wants to avoid angering Iran, a major oil source for its energy-hungry economy.

China has traditionally been wary of the use of sanctions.

However, analysts say that, while voicing objections in private, China would more likely abstain from any Security Council vote than use its veto.

Sino-US meeting

Robert Zoellick, US deputy secretary of state, who is visiting China this week, told Chinese leaders in meetings on Wednesday that allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons could threaten Beijing's crucial supplies of Middle Eastern oil.

Zoellick said he warned Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, and other officials in meetings that if they were concerned about energy security, it would be "extremely dangerous" to allow nuclear weapons development in the Middle East, centre of the world oil industry.

The West fears Iran wants to develop a nuclear bomb, but Tehran says its intentions are peaceful and that it wants only to develop civilian nuclear energy.

A uranium processing site at Isfahan, 340km south of Tehran

Uranium enrichment is a possible precursor to making atomic weapons.

Earlier this month Iran removed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seals from nuclear equipment, ending a 15-month moratorium, and announced it would restart research on nuclear fuel.

The move led Germany, Britain and France to call for an emergency session of the IAEA's 35-nation board on 2 February.

Before that, foreign ministers of the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council, plus Germany, are due to meet in London on Monday to try to hammer out their differences over how to deal with Iran.

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