THE MAKINGS OF A DEAL ON THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR SALE.

Moscow and Washington appear to be moving toward an agreement on Russia’s plans to sell nuclear equipment to Iran. While Russian officials continue to insist that the sale will go ahead, they have signaled that they are prepared to take American concerns about proliferation into account. Russian atomic energy ministry spokesman Georgiy Kaurov said that Moscow had no plans to sell a centrifuge to Iran, Moscow television reported May 4. Foreign ministry spokesman Grigoriy Karasin said the same day that Russia would do nothing to undercut the non-proliferation agreements. A deputy foreign minister told Interfax that “because of US insistence,” Russia is prepared to take “additional measures” to assure that none of the nuclear equipment sent to Iran is misused. Russian television’s “Vesti” program reported May 3 that a nuclear control system recently developed jointly by the US and Russia could be sold to Iran and thus help to resolve the dispute.

Chechen Conflict Hard on Journalists.