But further negotiations on the details lay ahead, and it was not known whether Iran will entirely give up enrichment at home, a top demand of the West.

The deal could deflect any move by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency at a March 6 meeting to recommend the Security Council consider action on Iran.

Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Saeedi, warned that the deal would be off if the International Atomic Energy Agency refers Iran to the Security Council, a step that could lead to sanctions.

Russian participation in the project is aimed at ensuring that no enriched material is secretly diverted to a weapons program.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons but has backed the proposal if it means enrichment would take place entirely in Russia. Iran denies any intention to build weapons, saying it aims only to produce nuclear energy.

The head of Iran's nuclear agency, Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, and his Russian counterpart Sergei Kiriyenko avoided addressing the issue of domestic enrichment at a short news conference announcing the agreement Feb. 26. The two spoke in Bushehr, the site of Iran's first reactor, built with Russian aid and due to be inaugurated this year.

Russia, a top ally of Iran, has been pressing Tehran to have all its uranium enrichment take place on Russian soil -- and had made the deal contingent on Iran formally calling off its domestic enrichment program, based in the central city of Natanz.

But Iran rejected that linkage, insisting on its right to carry out enrichment.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 4, 2006
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