Iranian, Russian experts to study Tehran's N. issue

Iranian and Russian experts are due to convene in a series of meetings in the near future to study and discuss details of a step-by-step proposal offered by Moscow to end the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West, Tehran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced Saturday night.Speaking in a joint press conference with his visiting Kazakh counterpart Yerzhan Kazykhanov here in Tehran last night, Salehi said Tehran accepts and welcomes the Russian offer "in principle". "This proposal displays Russians' goodwill for ending this superficial nuclear case of Iran," Salehi stated. He said the Russian proposal has many details, and the two countries have decided to put it to further discussions. The foreign minister underlined that Tehran would accept and welcome any kind of proposal with a fair approach and respect for Iran's rights. "We emphasize our right to use the peaceful nuclear energy as much as we are loyal and committed to the (International Atomic Energy) Agency's statute," the Iranian foreign minister reiterated. On July 13, the Russian foreign minister proposed a new 'step-by-step' approach toward Iran's nuclear program that would enable the Islamic Republic to take steps to address the questions raised by the IAEA. According to the proposed plan, Iran can revive negotiations to alleviate individual concerns of the IAEA about its nuclear activities and be rewarded along the way by the partial removal of sanctions. The approach would start out with the easiest questions and move on to more complicated ones that would require a longer time for a response. Iran has repeatedly stressed that according to the modality plan agreed by the Islamic Republic and the IAEA in 2007, the agency should close Iran's nuclear dossier since Tehran has addressed and resolved all issues of contention.