[Times-UK] Richard Beeston and Catherine Philp - UN and Iranian officials have been secretly negotiating a deal to persuade world powers to lift sanctions and allow Tehran to retain the bulk of its nuclear program in return for cooperation with UN inspectors. The draft agreement was drawn up in September by Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in an effort to break the stalemate over Iran's nuclear program before he stands down at the end of this month. The IAEA denied the existence of the document, which was leaked to The Times by one of the parties alarmed at the contents. The plan would require the UN Security Council to revoke sanctions and resolutions ordering Iran to halt its uranium enrichment - an unthinkable development at a time when the West is focused on how to impose more, not fewer, sanctions on Iran.
2009-11-17 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive