Tehran denies secret nuke deal

Iran yesterday said it is not negotiating a secret temporary shutdown of its uranium-enrichment program as part of ongoing talks with the European Union, rebutting Bush administration sources who told The Washington Times that such a deal is being discussed.

Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, when asked about the report in The Times, said chief Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani and chief European Union negotiator Javier Solana will discuss what has been proposed already.

“These are not the issues to be discussed in the future negotiations, and as Mr. Larijani has said before, the P5+1 proposal will be the basis of the future negotiations with the representatives of the P5+1,” Mr. Saeedi said.

“The P5+1” is shorthand for the group of the United States, France, Russia, China and Britain, all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany. The nations have offered Iran a series of concessions if Iran agrees to stop developing its uranium-enrichment program.

The Times reported yesterday that Bush administration officials say Mr. Solana has been negotiating a deal with Mr. Larijani that calls for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment for 90 days and to keep it secret, so additional talks could be held with several European nations.

The officials oppose such an agreement as a further concession to Iran, which continues to defy a United Nations’ call for a halt to uranium enrichment, an essential step in developing nuclear weapons.

A Security Council resolution had given Iran until Aug. 31 to stop its enrichment program or face the imposition of international sanctions. Tehran ignored the deadline, but diplomacy has continued.

John R. Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Mr. Solana will hold talks on the Iran nuclear issue as early as today, but Mr. Solana has not reported back on the latest discussions.

“He will be meeting shortly with Larijani, and I think we’ll hear from him at that point,” Mr. Bolton told reporters in New York.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Solana declined to comment on the report in The Times. Diplomatic sources said Mr. Solana and Mr. Larijani likely would meet today in Brussels.

The group of nations has demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment before new talks on the incentives can be held.

The Iranians say the enrichment is for nuclear-powered electricity-generating stations, but the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspect Iran is working on making nuclear weapons.

The White House said the U.S. is not negotiating a secret suspension of Iranian nuclear activity. The administration has called for a verifiable suspension, which it says must therefore be public.

“What the United States has asked for repeatedly and in every instance when we talked about this is a verifiable suspension of enrichment,” said Frederick Jones, spokesman for the National Security Council.

EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said senior EU official Robert Cooper and Iranian official Javad Vaeedi held talks in Paris on Monday.

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