A spokesman for the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power said that an offer to enrich Iranian uranium on Russian soil remained open despite Tehran's decision to postpone negotiations over the plan, which is viewed as a potential compromise that could end the current stand-off over the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions.
"At any rate, our proposal to set up a joint venture with the Iranian side remains on the negotiating table," the representative said.
A senior Iranian official, Gholam Hossein Elham, said earlier on Monday that Tehran would postpone indefinitely the talks over Moscow's plan, which were to have taken place in the Russian capital on Thursday. The announcement followed comments made by the country's leadership that it would consider withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Konstantin Kosachev, who chairs the international affairs committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, said the current international pressure campaign against Iran was unlikely to culminate in military action, as a leading U.S. newspaper had suggested.
"I don't believe that resolving the Iranian issue by force is a realistic option," Kosachev said, in response to a Boston Globe report about the United States and Israel allegedly contemplating a military action against Iran.
"Massive pressure is being brought to bear on Iran through the media and statements by political leaders, apparently with the view to having Iran accept the Russian [uranium enrichment] proposal... and embark on some other forms of cooperation with the global community over its nuclear program. To me, it's pure propaganda."
Citing U.S. and Israeli officials, The Boston Globe said the two countries might resort to military action, including air strikes and covert subversive operations, if Iran's nuclear ambitions failed to be bridled through diplomacy. But the newspaper warned that Iran had the capacity to retaliate, making use of its long-range missiles, commando units and terrorist networks operating across the world.
The United States, Israel and members of the European Union have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a peaceful nuclear program. Iran denies this, insisting that its program's only aim is generation of electrical power.
In a bid to allay Western nations' concerns that Iran may use enriched uranium to produce a nuclear bomb, Russia proposed taking Iranian uranium for enrichment on its soil and then returning it for electricity generation at the Russian-built Bushehr power station.
