Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani signaled openness to discussing a halt to uranium enrichment as part of broader negotiations with Western powers, remarks that followed his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the previous Saturday.
The overture nonetheless left a significant gap with the "5 plus 1" group, comprising the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany, which insists Iran accept UN Resolution 1696 and suspend enrichment before any talks begin. Tehran has rejected those preconditions, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted the West would ultimately recognize Iran's nuclear rights by 20 March 2007.
Larijani stressed that the duration of any suspension must be defined clearly, saying an open-ended freeze was unacceptable. He also offered full International Atomic Energy Agency inspections in exchange for a negotiated settlement, but warned Iran would "go our own way" if diplomacy failed.
Iran has so far installed two cascades of 164 centrifuges each at its Natanz facility, enriching uranium to between 3 and 5 percent. The country aims to reach 3,000 centrifuges by March 2007, though industrial-scale fuel production would eventually require more than 60,000.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.