Iran agrees ‘in principle’ to compromise on nuclear programme

Iran agreed “in principle” to a process that will put about 80 per cent of its existing enriched uranium supplies beyond military use, in a goodwill gesture that raised hopes of a diplomatic solution to its stand-off with the West.

The breakthrough came after a day of talks in Geneva between Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and the United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany.

In a sign that Tehran is eager to show more flexibility after a period of heightened tensions, Iran indicated that it would also allow international inspectors to visit its recently revealed second uranium enrichment plant “within weeks”.

After a long diplomatic chill, it agreed to a tight timetable of talks with the same six powers designed to get a far-reaching diplomatic solution in place by the end of the year.

Speaking in Washington, President Obama called the talks “a constructive beginning” but said hard work lay ahead.

“Talk is no substitute for action,” he added, saying sanctions remained an option if Iran did not fulfill its promises.

“Iran must demonstrate through concrete steps that it will live up to its responsibilities.”

Although the details still needs to be hammered out, Javier Solana, the EU’s top foreign policy official, said Iran had agreed “in principle” to export most of its enriched uranium stockpile to Russia for further enrichment. The uranium would then be sent to France for further processing and then returned to Iran. People familiar with the issue said the process would make it extremely difficult for Iran to use the uranium for bomb-making purposes, setting back its alleged weapons programme.

Russia and the US set up the deal in the last month, although it will be policed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Iran says it wants to use the uranium for peaceful medical and agricultural research purposes. Experts disagree on how much enriched uranium Iran has amassed, but most agree it is not yet enough to make a nuclear bomb.

Although Iran will continue to enrich uranium itself in the meantime, the processing move will buy more time for the West to try to persuade Tehran to open up its nuclear programme to the world and prove its aims are purely peaceful.

The talks’ tentative success had been largely attributed to President Barack Obama’s new policy of engagement with Iran. That was underlined on Thursday when William J Burns, a US undersecretary of state for political affairs, held a one-to-one meeting with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator that lasted 40 minutes. It was the highest level diplomatic meeting between the two countries in almost three decades.

In return for Iran freezing its nuclear enrichment programme, the six powers are ready to promise not to impose sanctions in any form.

Previously, that offer had covered only sanctions in the United Nations Security Council. Russia, a key player in the talks, has also toughened its stance, putting serious pressure on Iran behind the scenes.