Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir
Putin on Monday eased restrictions on Russian companies working on
Iranian enrichment sites as he travelled to Tehran for his first visit
since 2007.
A decree Putin
signed on Monday enables Russian firms to help modify centrifuges at the
Fordo enrichment site and help Tehran redesign its Arak heavy water
reactor.
Russian companies can now also carry out activities
linked to Iranian exports of enriched uranium of more than 300 kilograms
in exchange for the supplies of natural uranium to Iran, the Kremlin
decree said.
Under a historic
July deal with world powers, Iran agreed to dramatically scale back its
nuclear programme, making it much more difficult for it to develop
nuclear weapons.
Tehran
agreed to slash by two-thirds the number of centrifuges, machines that
can "enrich" or purify uranium to make it suitable for peaceful uses but
also for a nuclear weapon.
Russian
companies are eyeing business opportunities after sanctions on Iran are
lifted, expected in the next two months, as the nuclear deal reaches
its "implementation" stage.
Putin
arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, with the Syrian conflict
expected to be high on the agenda.
The one-day visit will also see Putin take part in a summit of gas exporting countries.
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