MOSCOW: Russia and the US feuded openly yesterday over Iran’s nuclear programme, with Moscow defending Tehran’s right to enrich uranium for atomic energy while visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran could not be trusted with the process.

Speaking to reporters after discussing the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Rice staked out starkly differing positions on the specific question of whether Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium for any purpose.

“All members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) have this right,” Lavrov stated, adding that Russia had seen no evidence to support US claims that Iran sought to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear energy programme.

Rice retorted: “It is not a question of rights... the NPT doesn’t come only with rights but also with obligations. This is not an issue of rights but of whether or not the fuel cycle can be trusted in Iran.”

While their comments only reiterated the well-known and differing positions of Russia and the US on the Iran nuclear question, the spectacle of Lavrov and Rice arguing over the specific point of the enrichment process was an unusual occurrence and underscored their split.

Following her talks with Lavrov, and before leaving Russia for London and talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Rice travelled outside Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin at his official country residence.

Putin and Rice agreed “not to allow the infringement of rules on non-proliferation of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and not to allow the appearance of new nuclear states in the world,” Lavrov told reporters after the talks.

“Iran must continue to co-operate with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) so that any questions that arise can be fully clarified,” Lavrov said, adding that the NPT regime must “under no conditions” be violated.

Earlier this year, Iran agreed to tighter controls on fuel rods used to generate nuclear energy, signing an agreement with Russia under which Moscow would deliver the fuel and then recover the spent fuel rods under international supervision.

Rice reiterated the US view that oil-rich Iran “needs no civilian nuclear programme”, but acknowledged that the nuclear fuel agreement with Russia “is a reliable way to make certain that there are no problems with the fuel cycle.” – AFP