Putin to Visit Iran to Stop Nuke Program ~ David Quintieri

Putin to Visit Iran to Stop Nuke Program by David Quintieri

Russia's Putin will be going to Iran to speak to the new president, Rouhani, to try and convince them to scale back their nuclear program

Russia's Putin to visit Tehran for nuclear talks

(Reuters) - Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet Iran's newly elected president in Tehran next month to discuss restarting talks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, Russian and Iranian media reports said on Wednesday.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted a source close to the Iranian Foreign Ministry as saying President Putin would visit on August 12, days after Hassan Rouhani is inaugurated.

Iran's Mehr news agency said Putin would travel to Iran on August 16, without citing a source.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined comment on the reports. Putin last visited Iran in 2007 to attend a summit of states bordering the Caspian Sea.

World powers hope Iran's relatively moderate new leader will comply with demands for Tehran to scale back nuclear work which they suspect is aimed at enabling it to make bombs.

Iran says it is enriching uranium, the fissile material for atomic bombs, only to fuel nuclear power stations and for medical purposes.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/0...