Iran & Russia Sign Preliminary Agreement

In order to stop international concerns about nuclear threat, Iran and Russia sign a preliminary agreement which will permit the latter to enrich uranium for the Islamic Republic.

At a joint press conference with Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy, Iranian Vice President for Atomic Energy Qolam-Reza Aqazadeh stated: "We have reached an agreement in principle for the creation of a joint company. Russia and Iran will continue the talks in Moscow `in a day or two to complete the agreement."

"There are practically no problems remaining of an organizational, technical or financial character for creating such a joint ventures, that means there exists the possibility of solving the problem associated with Iran's nuclear program within the framework of the International Atomic Energy," added Kiriyenko.

The agreement comes a week before the meeting of the United Nations in Vienna concerned about the nuclear threat, which is expected to impose sanctions to Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency demanded the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions and restrictions on February 4th.

Iran ignored this month's request to suspend the uranium enrichment program, saying that this process is aimed at producing energy for civilian use. The Islamic Republic already paid Russia $1 billion to build a nuclear plant capable of generating 1 000 megawatts of electricity.