1. Iran: Uranium deal will expose West
Iran says the yet to be signed uranium deal with the West will be a test of the participating countries' commitment to peaceful nuclear work.
"The Vienna talks are a new chapter in cooperation between Iran and the other participating states… We will be waiting to see whether they will stay true to their words and promises," Tehran's envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog told Al-Alam news channel.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be a witness to the other states' behaviors when it comes to technical cooperation on using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," said Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh.
Soltaniyeh had the interview with the Arabic news network on Wednesday night, following talks with diplomats from France, Russia and the US in Vienna on a deal to supply highly-enriched uranium for the Tehran research reactor.
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2. Russia pledges to continue arms supplies to Iran
Russia on Thursday said it would continue military cooperation with Iran amid widespread unease in the West over Moscow's controversial contract to sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran.
"The Russian Federation implements and plans to further implement the military-technical cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran in strict accordance with existing legislation and its international obligations," Russia's Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said.
The service released a rare statement after the Interfax agency, citing a Russian government source, reported earlier this week that Iran had not yet paid Russia for the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.
The source said no payments had been made because Russia's government has not given its final approval for the sale of S-300 missiles to Iran.
"We can't give comments regarding concrete plans or obligations with regards to existing contracts as it would mean becoming an unreliable partner (and) give potential competitors a chance to take advantage of the situation," the military service said.
Thursday's statement is likely to fuel further unease in the West over Russia's cooperation with Iran. Russia has so far refused to discuss tougher sanctions against Tehran, which the West suspects of seeking to obtain nuclear weapons.
source: the truth seeker
3. EU official: Israel out of the loop on Iran talks
A senior European Union official told Israeli officials this week that Israel is not privy to the details of the exchanges between Iran and the Western countries regarding its nuclear program. "You do not understand the extent to which you are not in the picture. You do not know how much you do not know and what is happening in Iran," he said.
Accordingly, a number of senior Israeli officials backed the European official's statements by saying that the release of the draft of an agreement with Iran caught Israel by surprise.
However, a senior official in the U.S. administration told Haaretz Thursday that from the minute the talks began on a deal over the uranium enrichment program of Iran, Israel was updated on every detail by the United States, and was given detailed reports on the talks with the Iranians and the ongoing dialogue on a nearly daily basis.
The Prime Minister's Bureau refused to comment.
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