Iran and Russia Sign Agreement On Nuclear Fuel
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BUSHEHR, Iran – Iran and Russia ignored American objections and signed a nuclear fuel agreement yesterday that is key to bringing Tehran’s first reactor online by mid-2006.
The long-delayed deal, signed at the heavily guarded Bushehr nuclear facility in southern Iran, dramatized President Bush’s failure to persuade the Russians to curtail support for the Iranian nuclear program during his summit with President Putin on Thursday in Slovakia.
Under the deal, Russia will provide nuclear fuel to Iran, then take back the spent fuel, a step meant as a safeguard to ensure it cannot be diverted into a weapons program. Iran has also agreed to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to monitor Bushehr and the fuel deliveries.
[Iranian officials turned over evidence that points to the government discussing the acquisition of technology necessary in the development of nuclear weapons, according to a report on the New York Times Web site last night. Iran reportedly hid the evidence for 18 years.]
