Top Iranian and Russian officials have agreed to hold talks on a Russian proposal aimed a resolving Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West, an Iranian diplomat close to the talks said.
The proposal, which is backed by Washington and the European Union, involves the creation of a joint Iranian-Russian company to enrich uranium in Russia.
Moscow put forward the plan in a bid to allay international concerns that Iran could manufacture highly enriched uranium on its own soil to build atomic weapons.
Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to a low grade, suitable for use in atomic power reactors.
Iranian officials had previously said they would reject any plan which denied Iran the right to build its own uranium enrichment facilities.
But, in a sudden change of tone, a senior official said yesterday Tehran would "seriously and enthusiastically" study the Russian plan.
The diplomat, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the agreement to talks on the proposal came during a telephone conversation between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov.