Russians to delay Iran nuclear deal (Iran's not paying its bills)

[Flabbergasted]

Russians to delay Iran nuclear deal
Email Print Normal font Large font Guy Faulconbridge, Moscow
February 21, 2007

RUSSIA will delay starting up Iran's first nuclear power plant because Tehran is behind with payments, a Russian atomic industry source has revealed. The statement came on the eve of a United Nations deadline for Iran to curb its nuclear activity.

In Tehran, a senior Iranian official denied any payment hold-up, saying Iran had adhered precisely to contract terms with Moscow over the Russian-built plant at Bushehr.

Word of the setback for the project came as Iran hurriedly arranged talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency before an IAEA report that could expose Tehran to broader sanctions over its nuclear program.

Iran's security council chief Ali Larijani was to meet IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei last night. Dr ElBaradei is expected to confirm that Tehran has defied a 60-day council deadline to stop enriching uranium.

Dr ElBaradei said in an interview that Iran would be able to install 3000 centrifuges as the basis for "industrial scale" enrichment in six to 12 months.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's atomic energy agency, is aiming for swifter installation — one cascade (unit) of 164 centrifuges per week, according to a report by developing nation diplomats briefed by him when they visited Iran two weeks ago.

Dr ElBaradei told the Financial Times it was too late for the world to deny Iran enrichment know-how, meaning that only diplomatic compromise could resolve the crisis.

Western powers suspect Iran is secretly seeking atomic weapons, not just the civilian nuclear energy it says it wants.

Diplomats monitoring IAEA inspections have said Tehran has set up at least two to three cascades in the underground Natanz plant in recent weeks and is poised to switch them on for feeding with uranium for refinement into fuel at any time.

A source in Russia's nuclear power agency, Rosatom, said it was obvious the timetable for the Bushehr plant needed to be "corrected" because Tehran had not made payments for the work for more than a month.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/russians-to-delay-iran-nuclear-deal/2007/02/20/1171733762788.html