14 November 2004
Iran agrees to suspend uranium programme
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Gareth Smyth in Tehran
ft.com

The decision was announced in a letter received on Sunday night by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog. "We have agreed to suspend what the Europeans wanted us to suspend," Hassan Rowhani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said last night.

The agreement comes at the 11th hour as the UN was scheduled today to report on the findings of a two-year investigation into Iran's nuclear programme. Western diplomats said the details contained in the Tehran letter would be included in that report. "It does commit them to a full suspension," said one.

The US has been suspicious of Iran's intentions, accusing Tehran of not living up to commitments to suspend its enrichment programme, and it remained unclear whether the US would accept the agreement. The IAEA is expected to have inspectors in Iran confirm the programme's suspension.

Hossein Mousavian, foreign policy chairman of Iran's SNSC, gave no time limit for the suspension, saying only that it would continue during wider talks with the Europeans starting on December 15.

He linked the agreement to an incentive package, tabled in Paris last week by European negotiators, which included the supply of nuclear fuel and the prospect of a trade agreement. But he said that under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Iran was entitled to enrich uranium. He told Iranian state television Europe had "recognised Iran's right to enjoy peaceful nuclear technology".

The agreement is a significant victory for the three EU members who led the negotiations - France, Germany and the UK. It is a step forward for the three, which were deeply split over the Iraq war. It is also the first real breakthrough for the EU's style of diplomacy in a region dominated by US brinkmanship in recent years.

With North Korea, Iran is seen by western allies as the biggest nuclear proliferation threat facing the international community. It has become a key test of whether the cold war-era structures of unconventional weapons containment - centred on the non-proliferation treaty and the IAEA - could still function in the post-September 11 world.

The board of the IAEA meets on November 25 to consider the Iran case. The US had been expected to press for a referral to the UN Security Council for what it alleges is a covert weapons programme.

But if IAEA inspectors are able to confirm a full suspension, it could short-circuit the US demands and protect Iran from economic sanctions.

The agreement followed weeks of intense negotiations. As recently as Thursday, a written reply sent by Iran failed to clear up lingering disagreements with the Europeans.