May 6, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1424

MOSCOW, May 5: The United States on Monday held high-level talks with Russia on Iran, aimed at persuading Moscow to rethink its nuclear cooperation with Tehran as it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

US Undersecretary of State John Bolton met foreign and atomic energy ministry officials in a fresh effort to get Moscow to curtail cooperation in Iran’s Bushehr power station project and rein in Russian scientists, whom Washington accuses of clandestinely supplying Tehran with nuclear technology.

With the Iraq operation winding down, officials in US President George Bush’s administration say they are now focused on the dangers of nuclear proliferation coming from Iran and North Korea.

“We have believed for some time that the Iranians were pursuing nuclear weapons,” a senior US administration official told journalists in Moscow before Mr Bolton’s talks.

“Although an Iranian nuclear weapons capability may be years down the road, time moves quickly and they may have a lot of activity going on that we don’t know about,” said the official.

Iran says its nuclear ambitions are limited to producing electricity and has allowed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to visit several of its nuclear facilities.

Russia has until recently stoutly defended its programme to help Tehran build a 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant at Bushehr. It says it is providing Iran only with civilian equipment.—Reuters