TEHRAN, May 21: Iran said on Saturday it had not considered a proposal that Russia enrich uranium for it — an idea floated as a way out of a deadlock in talks with the EU over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Britain, France and Germany were due to resume talks with Iran next week, aiming to persuade it to abandon uranium enrichment — a process needed to make nuclear bombs — in return for economic incentives.

Though Tehran has said repeatedly that it will not give up uranium enrichment, diplomats said one idea being floated was for Russia to temporarily enrich uranium for Iran. The diplomats, who declined to be named, said the proposal would buy time for the EU-Iran talks to continue.

“We have not discussed it yet,” Ali Aghamohammadi of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council told Reuters. Aghamohammadi also contested comments by diplomats that Iran proposed the idea of having Russia enrich uranium.

“The idea was from Russia,” he said. But Moscow denied the idea had been proposed by Russia.

“I do not have any information that that we have suggested supplying Iran with fuel,” a spokesman for the Russian Atomic Energy Agency said. Under the proposal, Tehran would process uranium ore mined in its central deserts into uranium hexafluoride gas. This would then be exported and pumped into Russian centrifuges to enrich it into atomic fuel for Iran.

Iran denies US accusations it is seeking nuclear bombs, saying its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. It agreed to suspend uranium enrichment work in November as a trust-building measure during the talks with the EU. It has threatened to resume uranium enrichment work if the talks fail.

The EU three said last week that if Iran resumed any enrichment-related work they would back U.S. calls to refer its case to the Security Council, which could consider imposing sanctions.—Reuters