DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - RUSSIA/IRAN: YOU KEEP SECRETS, WE KEEP NUKE FUEL

Russia says it won't deliver fuel to Iranian reactor without more openness

VIENNA, Austria: Moscow has warned Tehran it will not deliver fuel to a nearly completed Russian-built nuclear reactor unless Tehran lifts the veil of secrecy on suspicious past atomic activities, a European diplomat said Tuesday.

Separately, a U.S. official said Russia is not meeting other commitments that would allow the Iranians to activate the Bushehr nuclear reactor and suggested the delays were an attempt to pressure Tehran into showing more compliance with U.N. Security Council demands. Both men demanded anonymity in exchange for speaking to the AP because their information was confidential.

The increased Russian pressure comes at a time Iran already appears to be ready to compromise on a key international request — that it fully explain past activities that heightened suspicions it might be looking to develop a nuclear arms program.

Those fears led to Security Council demands that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment program — and to U.N. sanctions over Tehran's refusal to mothball the program, which can be used both to generate power and to make the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

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1) Russia says it won't deliver fuel to Iranian reactor without more openness