By Chris Jones - 3rd October 2006
Iran has asked France to “create a consortium to produce enriched uranium” in a bid to break the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The deputy director of Iran’s atomic energy agency Mohammed Saedi told the France Info radio station that a deal was imminent with two French companies, Areva and Eurodif, to enrich uranium in Iran.
The companies would be given “tangible” control of Iran’s nuclear activities, Saedi told the radio station – which would also allow UN nuclear inspectors to restart their investigations.
Tehran has refused to give in to US-led calls for an end to its nuclear programme – which Washington believes is about creating weapons, not energy – and still faces the threat of UN sanctions.
But both China and Russia have continued to push for a diplomatic solution.
Russia had also been mentioned as a possible partner for Iran earlier this year, but Tehran and Moscow failed to reach agreement on a uranium enrichment deal.
The French government, and the two companies mentioned by Saedi, have declined to comment on the Iranian minister’s comments.
The Iranian government is a shareholder in Eurodif, holding 10 per cent of the company’s stock through Sofidif, a Franco-Iranian joint venture created in the 1970s – before the Islamic revolution.
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