BRUSSELS, February 21 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Shishlo) - Russia must specify a timeframe and location in its proposals to enrich Iran's uranium on its territory through a Russian-Iranian joint venture, the Iranian foreign minister said Tuesday.
"First of all, there is the question of how long it will take - one year, two years? The second vital factor is the site or sites for enrichment," Manuchehr Mottaki, who is currently on an official visit to Brussels, said in an interview with Belgian daily Le Soir.
On February 20-21, Iran and Russia held two rounds of talks in Moscow to discuss the latter's proposal to enrich uranium for Iranian nuclear power plants on Russian soil. The talks ended Tuesday with no concrete results.
Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's Federal Agency for Nuclear Power, said the talks would continue in Tehran.
Mottaki said Iran was ready for talks, and to find a compromise through considering new ideas. "We are ready to solve the problem by peaceful, diplomatic means within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency [the UN's nuclear watchdog]," Mottaki said.
The diplomat said it would be better to reach a compromise before March 6, when the IAEA will report on the Islamic Republic to the UN Security Council, which has the right to impose sanctions against Iran.
"No matter what the compromise may be, research and development [under the Iranian nuclear program] will continue in Iran until the country reaches industrial levels of uranium enrichment, and this will be achieved in the end," Mottaki said.
The Russian initiative is widely seen as the last opportunity to solve the nuclear crisis through diplomatic efforts without resorting to the UN Security Council, and to prevent economic sanctions or even military action against Iran. Many countries suspect Iran of pursuing a covert weapons program under the cover of its nuclear energy programs, though Tehran has consistently denied this.
