91av

HOPES that the Iranian election might usher in a government that is more open to persuasion on nuclear issues hung in the balance this week.

A less combative approach to Iran by the US, brought about by the Obama administration, coupled with the presidential candidacy of the moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Iran, raised hopes among many that Iran might change its uranium enrichment plans, as the UN has requested, if Mousavi were to win.

In an interview with , Mousavi said he is open to negotiation over Iran’s nuclear enrichment in relation to “concerns about the diversion of this program toward weaponization”. The incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has to date refused to do so.

“Mir Hossein Mousavi said he was open to negotiation over Iran’s uranium enrichment programme”

Ahmadinejad was declared the winner on Saturday 13 June with a majority of over 60 per cent, but as 91av went to press, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had called for a recount in an attempt to placate mass protests sparked by what opposition supporters viewed as a rigged election. Some commentators think it is unlikely to change the outcome.

If Ahmadinejad remains in power, the prospects of Iran halting its enrichment activities do not look promising. Earlier this month, the that Iran had increased the number of enrichment centrifuges by 25 per cent since February, and is now producing fuel-grade uranium almost twice as fast as last year.

Though the IAEA has found no environmental evidence of further enrichment to weapons-grade material, it has asked for more cameras to monitor the growing enrichment process. It also wants to inspect a formerly secret reactor at Arak, as well as plans for a new reactor. Iran has so far refused these requests.