Posted on 02/11/2003 3:08:41 PM PST by knighthawk
MOSCOW, Feb 11 (AFP) - Russia turned down repeated requests from Iran to help extract recently-announced uranium deposits found in the country, its deputy atomic energy minister said Tuesday.
"Uranium deposits were detected in Iran long ago and everytime we meet, the Iranians ask us whether the Russian side can help with mining," Valery Govorukhin said, quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency.
He said Russia had told Iran repeatedly that its cooperation was limited to "the construction of a central reactor at Bushehr (in southern Iran), the delivery of nuclear fuel for the entire period of the reactor's use and the return and treatment of the nuclear fuel to Russia," Govorukhin said.
Iran announced Sunday that it had discovered uranium deposits in the center of the country and had begun building factories to convert the ore into fuel for its nuclear power stations.
The announcement drew criticism from Washington, which has branded Iran a member of an "axis of evil" seeking weapons of mass destruction.
Russia's help at Bushehr has also provoked Washington's ire, with the United States warning that Iran could use the reactor to start a nuclear weapons program.
Tehran has denied the charge and has also said it would use the newly-discovered uranium deposits for a peaceful nuclear program.
Govorukhin said Iran's nuclear program was not yet well-developed enough to turn the domestic uranium deposits into nuclear power.
He said Iran had also asked for help in exploiting these uranium deposits from specialists from other countries but no one had yet stepped foward.
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