Progress reported in Iran nuclear talks

Iran today signalled it would agree a deal to delay its capacity to produce nuclear weapons.

It would involve sending most of its existing enriched uranium to Russia for processing.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that representatives of Iran and its three negotiators - the US, Russia and France - had accepted the draft for forwarding to their capitals. ElBaradei said he hoped for approval from all four countries by Friday.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate, praised the draft, saying it was "on the right track", while emphasising that senior Iranian officials in Tehran still had to sign it.

The apparent breakthrough came on the third day of talks in Vienna which aimed to overcome differences over Iran's nuclear intentions. While the United States and other nations fear Iran may be interested in developing nuclear weapons, Tehran insists its activities are peaceful and meant only to generate energy for its growing population.

Mr ElBaradei said he had "circulated a draft agreement that in my judgment reflects a balanced approach to how to move forward".

"Everybody who participated at the meeting was trying to look at the future not at the past, trying to heal the wounds," the IAEA chief added. "I very much hope that people see the big picture, see that this agreement could open the way for a complete normalisation of relations between Iran and the international community."

Neither side gave details of what was in the package. Howver, diplomats said it was essentially the original proposal drawn up by the IAEA that would commit Tehran to shipping 75% of its enriched uranium stockpile to Russia for further enrichment.

Sending such a large amount of Iran's enriched uranium outside the country would temporarily get rid of most of the material it needs to make a bomb.

After the material is turned into metal fuel rods, it would then be shipped back to Iran to power its small research reactor in Tehran, according to the draft.

Mr Soltanieh suggested that his country - which held at least one one-on-one meeting with the American delegation - had won concessions in exchange for any agreement.

While essentially technical, a deal that foresees Iran exporting most of its enriched material would have significant ramifications.

It would commit Iran to turn over more than 2,600lbs of low-enriched uranium. That would significantly ease fears about Iran's nuclear program, since 2,205lbs is the commonly accepted amount of low-enriched uranium needed to produce weapons-grade uranium.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner appeared to outline the contours of the deal, insisting that his country would not compromise on demanding that Tehran export most of its enriched material.

Based on the present Iranian stockpile, the US has estimated that Tehran could produce a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015, an assessment that broadly matches those from Israel and other nations.