The Times (the real one, not that upstart from New York) is reporting that
Russia defied stern American warnings yesterday to announce that it had agreed to start shipping nuclear fuel to Iran in three months.
As non-UK readers require a subscription, I have included the relevant part of the article below
Russia's nuclear deal with Iran raises Middle East temperature
From Roland Watson in Washington and Jeremy Page
RUSSIA defied stern American warnings yesterday to announce that it had agreed to start shipping nuclear fuel to Iran in three months.
Within hours President Bush vowed to stand by Israel if its security was threatened by Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. He said that it would be unacceptable for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.
The twin announcements look certain to generate some frank exchanges when Mr Bush meets President Putin in Slovakia next week. They also raised the already high stakes in the Middle East, and Mr Bush made clear that the region would dominate his discussions with European leaders in Brussels next week.
In a press conference in Washington, Mr Bush made plain that Syria was also in US sights. He said that it was out of step with its neighbours and should withdraw its 15,000 troops from Lebanon.
Russia announced its deal with Iran despite Washington's prolonged efforts to dissuade Moscow from supplying fuel for the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant, fearing that it could be upgraded to make a dirty bomb or nuclear weapon.
But Iranian state television announced yesterday that a deal would be signed next week during a visit to Iran by Alexander Rumyantsev, head of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency.
The signing will take place on February 26, two days after the Bush-Putin summit. The first shipment of fuel will be delivered three months later, and Russia will provide fuel to Bushehr for the next ten years. Under the deal, Iran is supposed to return spent fuel to Siberian storage units, but that clause is unlikely to allay Washington's fears that Iran will use it to obtain weapons-grade material.
Asked if he was concerned that Israel may seek to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Bushehr plant and other alleged nuclear facilities around Iran, Mr Bush pointedly failed to restrain America's pivotal Middle East ally. "Well, of course, first of all, Iran has made it clear it doesn't like Israel, to put it bluntly," he said. Iran, like many other countries in the region, has failed to acknowledge Israel's right to exist.
Mr Bush said that his objective was to use diplomacy to persuade Iran not to develop a nuclear weapon. "There's more diplomacy, in my judgment, to be done," he said.
"But clearly, if I was the leader of Israel and I listened to some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs about the security of my country, I'd be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon. And in that Israel is our ally, in that we've made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if their security is threatened."