Europe to Offer Iran Benefits For Forgoing Fissile Material

Britain, France and Germany are preparing to offer Iran a package that includes major security assurances, economic cooperation and a guaranteed fuel supply. In exchange, Tehran would permanently forgo production of fissile material that could be used for nuclear weapons, according to U.S. and foreign diplomats.

Details of the offer, which has been in the works since May and is near completion, have won cautious support from the Bush administration, U.S. diplomats said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

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Diplomats close to the talks said the European offer would recognize Iran’s right to a civilian nuclear energy program that is “safe, economically viable and proliferation proof.”

The package also includes guaranteed and sustainable access to fuel, so that Iran would not need to enrich its own uranium, and lays out a strategy for economic relations in energy, trade and investment.

Washington Post