Putin: Iran has not excluded possibility of uranium enrichment in Russia

Russia's President &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/350/16631_Putin.html' target=_blank>Vladimir Putin on Monday urged caution in dealing with the Iranian nuclear program, saying that Tehran might still agree to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia _ a step that could resolve the deadlock over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

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Putin, speaking after a meeting with German Chancellor &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/365/16513_Merkel.html' target=_blank>Angela Merkel, said, "One of the main problems is the enrichment of uranium. We proposed to our Iranian partners to set up a joint enrichment venture on Russian territory. We have heard various opinions from our Iranian partners on that issue. One of them has come from the Foreign Ministry _ our partners told us they did not exclude the implementation of our proposal."

Putin, who is facing Western pressure to support a tougher stance on the Iranian nuclear issue, said Moscow's position is "very close" to that of the U.S. and the European Union. But he added that "it's necessary to work carefully and avoid any sharp, erroneous moves."

Iran last week removed U.N. seals on its main uranium enrichment facility, defying international pressure not to resume enrichment, which can be used to develop fuel for nuclear reactors or material for &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/354/14988_iran.html' target=_blank>atomic weapons.

Amid growing international concern that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, Russia last year proposed that uranium for Iran be enriched in Russia. That would ensure oversight so that the uranium would be enriched only to the level needed for use in reactors at Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant and not to the higher level needed for a nuclear warhead.

Western countries have threatened to take Iran before the U.N. Security Council over the dispute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that the Kremlin did not exclude supporting such a move, although it had previously said it saw no need to do so, reports AP. O.Ch.

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