By Henrietta Billings - 28th February 2005
Brussels has confirmed it will not oppose the civilian nuclear deal reached between Russia and Iran on Sunday, clearing the way for Teheran's only atomic reactor to come on stream next year.
Although the EU executive was not informed in advance about the agreement - signed at the site of the Russian built plan at Bushehr on Sunday, the EU is satisfied with the deal that will be supervised by the UN's nuclear watchdog - the international Atomic Energy Agency.
"While we believe very firmly that it is important for all sides to avoid Iran becoming a militarily nuclear state, we as the EU have never contested Iran's right to develop civilian nuclear power," an EU spokeswoman told reporters on Monday.
"Our understanding is that the recent deal between Russia and Iran is compatible with our own approach since both sides have made it clear they will fully respect international rules and regulations on non-proliferation and most importantly that Bushehr will operate under the close supervision of the IAEA - the UN's nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency."
Under the deal the first consignment of enriched uranium will be dispatched to Iran from Siberia in the middle of next year.
In order to ally US fears that Iran may be preparing a nuclear weapon, Russia has agreed to reprocess the spent fuel in Russia - which can be reprocessed to make bomb-grade plutonium, reports the Independent.
The commission said the negotiations led by Britain, France and Germany to persuade Iran to permanently stop uraninium enrichment activities were continuing, and had no direct link with yesterday's deal.
The latest Russian-Iranian developments are expected to be discussed today at the EU-Russian troika meeting in Luxembourg.
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