Moscow, Tehran Striving to Quickly Sign Deal on Removal of Enriched Uranium

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow and Tehran are doing everything possible to quickly sign an agreement on the removal of enriched uranium from Iran, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department on Arms Control said.

“Work in regard to [removing enriched uranium] is continuing intensively between Russia’s Rosatom and Iran’s Organization on Nuclear Energy,” Ulyanov told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Ulyanov added that “everything possible is being done so that [the agreement] is signed as soon as possible.”

Iranian Nuclear Experts to Visit Russia for Consultations on Fordo Facilities

Iranian nuclear experts will visit Russian nuclear centers to start the process of reprofiling Iran’s Fordo facilities on the production of stable isotopes, Ulyanov said.

“In accordance with the overall agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, Russia is contributing to the program by cooperating with Iran in organizing the production of stable isotopes for its Fordo facility. In line with this, Iranian specialists arrived [in Russia] to become acquainted with how this work can be organized.”

Ulyanov added that many types of these meetings are planned in the future.

IAEA to Control Iran's Entire Nuclear Fuel Cycle

“The agreement on Iran’s nuclear program includes additional measures of control from the [IAEA] that covers the Islamic Republic’s entire nuclear fuel cycle, starting with the extraction and processing of uranium ore,” Ulyanov told RIA Novosti.

The International Atomic Energy Agency will gain access to Iran’s nuclear facilities in less than one month from the original request, the Russian official said.

“An effective mechanism for settling controversial issues…in regard to the IAEA’s access to facilities in Iran has been created, which means that in practice any grounds for doubt that may arise from the IAEA in regard to the peaceful character of Iran’s nuclear program, or any blocking of questions on giving the agency’s inspectors access to the facilities in question have been removed and the procedure of agreeing access [to the nuclear facilities] will take less than a month,” Mikhail Ulyanov said.

In July, the P5+1 group of China, France, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany reached a deal with Tehran to ensure the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program in exchange for an easing of sanctions against the country.

Under the agreement, among other points, Tehran is obliged to cut back its uranium enrichment and limit its number of refinement centrifuges.

Later that month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would actively participate in re-profiling the Fordo, Iran's uranium enrichment plant, as an isotope production facility for medical and industrial purposes, and facilitating the removal of uranium from the country as well.

Alongside the deal, the IAEA and Iran signed a road map that makes it possible for the agency to make investigations of possible military dimensions of Tehran's nuclear program.