#6 - JRL 7304
U.S. presses Russia to halt nuclear aid to Iran
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday put fresh public pressure on Russia to halt nuclear cooperation with Iran after U.N. inspectors issued a new report faulting Tehran's program.
"Until Iran satisfies the IAEA's questions and fully addresses the concerns of the international community ... we believe that no country should be engaging with Iran in nuclear cooperation, and that would include Russia," State Department deputy spokesman Phillip Reeker told reporters.
He was reacting to an announcement from the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry that Russia and Iran in September would sign an agreement requiring Tehran to return nuclear waste to Moscow.
Nothing Reeker said suggested that Undersecretary of State John Bolton made headway in resolving U.S.-Russian differences over Iran's nuclear program during talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
Russia has pressed ahead with plans to build a nuclear plant at the southern port of Bushehr in Iran despite criticism from Washington which accuses Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program.
Once the new Russia-Iran agreement is signed, Russia would ship fuel to Iran for the Bushehr reactor which will process it to generate power and send all spent nuclear material -- which can be converted into weapons grade material -- back to Russia.
Two senior U.S. officials have told Reuters the Russians have told Washington they would not provide Iran with the fuel for Bushehr until next spring.
In a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, the U.N. nuclear watchdog -- the International Atomic Energy Agency -- confirmed it had found particles of highly-enriched uranium -- weapons grade -- in environmental samples taken at a nuclear facility at Natanz.
The finding may buttress U.S. claims about Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions.
The IAEA is expected to take up the Iran issue at its September 8 board meeting when the Bush administration is looking to pass a resolution finding Tehran in non-compliance with international nuclear safeguards and transfer the issue to the U.N. Security Council for further action.
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