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Russia Gives Iran Nuclear Fuel

Says Tehran has promised not to develop weaponry

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 17, 2007 7:58 AM CST

(Newser) – Russia delivered nuclear material to Iran yesterday, the BBC reports, ignoring Washington’s protests. Russia says it has assurances that the plutonium will only be used for the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, which is being built by a Russian company, but the US says that spent uranium could be used in weapons development. The plant could be operational within six months.

Russia has long delayed building the plant, saying Iran was behind on payments, but many analysts say international pressure had more to do with it. But the UN approved the deliveries now that the US intelligence estimate has alleviated anti-Tehran sentiment, leading Russia to cast aside the most significant sanction against Iran—but risk yet-tenser relations with Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, walk past two Iranian Achaemenid Emperor's soldier (580-529 BC) statues as they attend  an official departure ceremony for Putin in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007.  (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, walk past two Iranian Achaemenid Emperor's soldier (580-529 BC) statues as they attend an official departure ceremony...   (Associated Press)
The reactor building of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is seen, some 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 3, 2007.  Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr plant, which is at the center of the international tensions over...
The reactor building of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is seen, some 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 3, 2007. Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear...   (Associated Press)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007.  (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Sergei Guneyev, Pool)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Sergei Guneyev, Pool)   (Associated Press)
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