Iran: 'No agreement on any nuclear topic' has been reached
Iranian officials say no nuclear agreement has been reached with the United States. On Friday, it was reported that a tentative agreement had been made for Iran to ship its surplus enriched uranium to Russia.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, (r.), pose for a photograph prior to a bilateral meeting of the closed-door nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria in November 2014.
Ronald Zak/AP
Dubai
Iran聽denied on Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the聽United States聽to ship its surplus enriched uranium to聽Russia聽under new concessions aimed at clinching a comprehensive nuclear deal with six world powers.
The Associated Press, citing diplomats, said on Friday聽Tehran聽and Washington had tentatively agreed on a formula to ship to聽Russia聽much of the material that could potentially lead to manufacture of atomic arms by the Islamic republic.
It said negotiators had drawn up a catalog for the first time at their December meeting in聽Geneva聽outlining areas of potential accord and differences in their 12-year nuclear dispute.
Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman聽Marzieh Afkham聽said "no agreement on any nuclear topic" had been reached.
"Such news is spread out of political motives and its goal is to tarnish the climate of the talks and make it more complicated to reach a settlement," the state IRNA news agency quoted her as saying.
The semi-official聽ISNA聽agency, citing an "informed source," also denied the report: "The topic of transferring (enriched) uranium abroad has been circulating for a while, but we haven't had any agreement in this regard."
The head of聽Iran's atomic energy agency,聽Ali Akbar Salehi, told worshippers at Friday prayers that the long nuclear conflict was drawing to an end.
"Have no doubt that the nuclear issue will be resolved in聽Iran's favor and we will soon celebrate聽Iran's victory," he was quoted as saying by Mehr News.
Iran聽and the six powers "P5+1" -- the聽United States,聽Russia,聽China,聽France, Britain and聽Germany聽-- are to resume low-level talks on聽Tehran's nuclear activities in聽Geneva聽on Jan 15, but wide gaps remain in their positions.
An interim accord struck on Nov. 24, 2013, yielded steps by聽Iran聽to curb aspects of its sensitive nuclear activity, including higher-grade enrichment, in return for a measure of relief from economic sanctions. But last November, the two sides failed for a second time to meet a self-imposed deadline on ending the standoff and extended the period until June 30, 2015.
Among sticking points are the scope of uranium enrichment, the number of centrifuges and pace and sequencing of sanctions relief.
Iran聽insists its program is peaceful and has urged Western powers to drop "unrealistic" demands hindering a breakthrough. The聽United States聽and its allies are seeking fool-proof guarantees and safeguards. (Reporting by Mehrdad Balali; Editing by Gareth Jones)