Two a penny

.The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief said he had given Iran and three world powers a draft text of a deal for approval by their capitals by Friday to help allay concerns over Tehran’s nuclear program.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohamed ElBaradei spoke at the conclusion on Wednesday of two-and-a-half days of tense, high-stakes talks plagued by delays, involving Iran, France, Russia and the United States at IAEA headquarters.
Diplomats said Mr ElBaradei’s draft contained the powers’ call for Iran to send some 75 per cent of its enriched uranium reserve abroad before the end of this year for conversion into fuel for a Tehran reactor producing medical isotopes.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
This would reduce the high risk cited by the West of Iran, under suspicion over nuclear secrecy and restrictions on IAEA inspections, using a growing low-enriched uranium stockpile for further enrichment into material suitable for atom bombs. . Its delegation chief said the Vienna talks were constructive but did not say whether the Islamic Republic’s leadership would endorse the draft accord. The deadline for the parties to give, I hope, an affirmation action is Friday,” said Mr ElBaradei.
“Everybody is aware [this] transaction is a very important confidence-building measure that can defuse a crisis going on for a number of years, and open space for [further] negotiations” on other outstanding disputes, Mr ElBaradei said.
“I cross my fingers that by Friday we have an okay by all the parties concerned,” he said, underlining uncertainty whether Iran would come on board after it cast doubt on details of the deal it tentatively agreed to in Geneva talks on October 1.
Diplomats said a face-saving compromise had been drafted by Mr ElBaradei.
Mr ElBaradei said France was part of the deal drawn up after exhaustive consultations with the parties, despite Iranian statements saying Paris must be excluded and accusing it of reneging on past contracts to deliver nuclear materials.
Western diplomats say Tehran must ultimately curb the program to dispel fears of a growing LEU stockpile being further enriched, covertly, to produce nuclear weapons. Under this, Iran would sign a contract with Russia which would then sub-contract further work to France.
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Read them’s report Sarkozy pushes business during surprise Baghdad visit

them with wires – French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that discussions with Kuwait for the potential purchase of 14 to 28 French Rafale combat aircraft by the Gulf kingdom could be completed before the end of 2009.

At a press conference in Kuwait City, the French president said that discussions were progressing and were already quite advanced.

On Tuesday, Nicolas Sarkozy proposed to the Oman Sultanate to replace its twenty Franco-British Jaguar fighter-jets with the Rafale assault planes.

The officer and his interpreter died earlier Wednesday in a battle that erupted when their patrol was hit by a home-made landmine, the French military and Afghan officials said. .

diplomacy – France – Iraq – Nicolas Sarkozy – Oman