Nuclear brinkmanship

last updated 8 January 2015

Tehran

Iran said this week it would not accept a Russian compromise on producing nuclear-power-plant fuel and instead vowed to resume its own nuclear research. In the debate over whether to let Iran develop nuclear technology, Russia had proposed allowing Iran to control all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle except the enrichment of uranium, the step that can ultimately produce bomb fuel. Under the Russian plan, that step would occur at a Russian plant. It’s unclear whether Iran’s rejection of the proposal is final, but European negotiators said Iran’s resumption of nuclear research would be a disturbing development. Iranian atomic official Mohammad Saidi said the research would not include enrichment, at least for now.