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7/29/05

USATODAY.com - European Union set to make deal with Iran

USATODAY.com

European Union set to make deal with Iran

The European Union will offer Iran next week a guaranteed supply of nuclear fuel for civilian nuclear power plants and expanded economic cooperation if Iran agrees to stop trying to make its own fuel, two European officials said Wednesday. Germany, France and Britain have been negotiating with Iran for months and consulting with the United States, Russia and China to build a united front in case Iran resumes making uranium gas. If Iran does so, it would violate the deal it signed with the three European countries last November and the issue would be referred to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, for possible referral to the U.N. Security Council. European negotiators hope to persuade Iran that it will help its economy more by giving up its efforts to make nuclear fuel, the officials said. They said the EU offer has three major parts:

• Guaranteed fuel at market prices for a civilian nuclear power plant near completion at Bushehr and for future plants.

• Expanded economic cooperation, including the possibility that European companies might provide civilian nuclear technology, and aircraft for Iran's decrepit national airline.

• A promise to include Iran in discussions about regional and global security, including policy concerning its neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan.

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