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/ 19 September 2007
South Africa is holding off joining a United States-led initiative to spread atomic power because it does not want to give up its right to enrich uranium, a senior South African official said on Tuesday. Exporting uranium only to get it back refined, instead of enriching it in South Africa, would be ”in conflict with our national policy”, said Minerals and Energy Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.
Iran persists in defying United Nations demands to stop enriching uranium and is expanding the work, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report on Wednesday that could open the door to new sanctions against Tehran. "Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities," the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Six world powers converged on Vienna on Thursday to break a deadlock on Iran’s nuclear programme after the United States made a dramatic offer to join talks with Tehran if it suspends uranium enrichment. Diplomats are hopeful that a compromise can be reached over Washington’s demand for Tehran to first suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States is ready for the first time to join talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, provided Russia and China agree to sanctions if Tehran refuses to limit its atomic ambitions, diplomats said on Wednesday. A Western diplomat said the US was "willing to sit at the table with the Iranians", together with the four other permanent United Nations Security Council members.
The European Union is ready to help Iran build several light-water nuclear reactors and set up a nuclear fuel bank if Tehran stops enriching uranium, according to a copy of a draft proposal seen by Agence France-Presse on Friday. Russia would enrich uranium for Iran in a partnership.
United Nations nuclear inspectors have found traces of highly enriched uranium at a site where Iran has denied such sensitive atomic work, diplomats told Agence France-Presse on Friday. The diplomats said the particles of weapon-grade uranium came from sample swipes inspectors from the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog made last January.
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/ 30 January 2006
Europe and the United States warned Iran over its nuclear ambitions on Monday and called on Russia and China to join in seeking United Nations action later this week, as Tehran asked for more time for a compromise. In Brussels, top officials from Britain, France and Germany met an Iranian delegation.
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/ 22 December 2005
The European Union and Iran still seem to be on a collision course over Tehran’s alleged atomic-weapons intentions despite the revival of talks, diplomats and analysts said on Thursday. The EU and Iran resumed talks on Wednesday, agreeing after five hours to meet again in January.
The 2005 Nobel Peace Prize was on Friday awarded to the United Nations’s International Atomic Energy Agency and its Egyptian director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, for their efforts against nuclear-weapons proliferation, the Nobel committee said.
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/ 2 September 2005
The United Nations atomic watchdog was on Friday finalising a report expected to say that Iran has failed to suspend nuclear fuel work and which could trigger UN Security Council sanctions over fears Tehran is developing nuclear weapons, diplomats said. ”As far as we know, they have not suspended [nuclear fuel work],” a diplomat said.