All nuclear fuel work must be halted, Brussels tells Tehran. No way, says Iran. Then, how about a joint venture to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia? asks Moscow.
As talks between the European Union (EU) and Iran over its disputed nuclear program reached an impasse at Iran's insistence on a full nuclear fuel cycle, Russia brought up a proposal in November that has won international backing and inspired hopes of breaking the deadlock with Moscow weighing in.
Moscow's plan would allow Iran to go ahead with a civilian nuclear program, but would move the uranium enrichment process, the most sensitive part of the nuclear fuel cycle, to Russia under a joint venture -- a compromise seen as a way to minimize the chances of Iran acquiring the critical nuclear know-how to make weapons-grade components.
The United States accuses Iran of running a covert nuclear arms program. Iran, however, says its nuclear work is designed merely to meet its energy needs.
The Russian proposal came against the backdrop of repeated Western warnings to Iran that it could be hauled before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear program, a move Moscow opposes.
Enraged by Iran's August decision to end a freeze on uranium conversion, Germany, France and Britain -- the so-called EU trio in the talks -- pushed a resolution through the UN nuclear watchdog with the United States in September, which declared Iran in violation of safeguards clauses of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
That resolution could have grave consequences for Iran as it paved the way for a referral of the Iranian nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council.
But that scenario did not materialize as the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decided in late November to postpone such a move to allow more time for diplomatic maneuvering on the Russian plan.
Analysts say the plan could allay Western worries over Iran's intentions but meanwhile it is tantamount to acquiescence in its renewed work on uranium conversion for peaceful aims.
Uranium conversion is a process that precedes enrichment. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel in power generation or to make atomic bombs.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR RUSSIAN PLAN
Both the EU and the United States back Moscow's proposal. US President George W. Bush called it "helpful" to the process of negotiations and thanked Russia for its position.
An EU diplomat said uranium conversion "may be the face-saving activity that Iran could be permitted to engage in."
The IAEA has also endorsed the plan and urged Iran to act as quickly as possible before the West runs out of patience.
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize with the agency he leads for their work to prevent the spread of nuclear weaponry, called the plan a "good starting point" on the way to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table.
"Pragmatically, going through a transitional phase of a joint venture with Russia .. I think it is a good starting point," the veteran Egyptian diplomat said this month.
ElBaradei said he hoped outstanding issues with Iran will be clarified by March, when he presents his next report on the country. "The international community is losing patience with the nature of that program," he warned.
Iran, for its part, did not reject the Russian initiative outright and has announced it will resume talks with the EU on Dec. 21.
Some experts say Russia may outperform others in defusing a crisis over Iran.
"In Iran, Russia's long-running diplomacy might enable progress toward goals the United States could never achieve on its own," Rose Gottemoeller, a former US official working on nuclear nonproliferation issues, wrote in an analysis published by the Carnegie Moscow Center.
RUSSIA: STAY WITHIN IAEA
Russia is helping Iran build its first nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr and has expressed interest in bidding for more nuclear projects in Iran.
Moscow and Tehran signed a key nuclear fuel agreement in February that required spent fuel rods at Bushehr to be returned to Russia to prevent Iran from making nuclear bombs.
The fuel deal removed the last obstacle to the launch of the Bushehr plant, which is due to come on stream in late 2006.
To avoid antagonizing Iran, Russia is struggling to make sure that the issue does not end up in the Security Council, where Moscow has veto power, analysts say.
"(Russia's) main goal is not to have Iran referred to the UN Security Council as that move will consolidate the Iranian society toward a common enemy and boost the authority of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" in his country, Vladimir Yevseyev, an expert specializing in nuclear non-proliferation at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told Xinhua.
In the latest in a series of Russian efforts to stave off a confrontation, President Vladimir Putin called for the potential of the UN nuclear watchdog to be fully tapped in resolving the controversy over Iran.
"We believe the IAEA's possibilities for settling all the issues concerning the Iranian nuclear program are far from being exhausted," Putin said at a meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Moscow this month.
Putin called on Iran to comply with all its commitments, including those it made on a unilateral basis, and pledged to "do all Russia can do" to facilitate the talks.
And striking an upbeat note, Russian officials have said their plan would work well.
"We consider it quite workable. It can lead us to a comprehensive package of agreements that will provide a reliable solution to the Iranian nuclear problem," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier this month.