Russia tells Iran to heed IAEA for atomic fuel-dips

VIENNA, Aug 7 (Reuters) Russia has told Iran it will withhold fuel for a planned Russian-built nuclear plant until Tehran answers longstanding UN questions about its disputed atomic programme, diplomats said today.

Two weeks ago, Moscow said it had delayed the start-up of Iran's first nuclear power station to 2008 because Tehran was in arrears on payments for the Bushehr plant.

A senior diplomat familiar with inspections by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog in Iran and with Iranian-Russian contacts on Bushehr, said Moscow delivered the warning to Tehran around two weeks ago.

He said this was part of an unofficial deal under which Western powers quietly shelved moves for harsher UN sanctions against Iran until next month, pending the outcome of IAEA-Iranian talks on clearing up outstanding issues.

Russian foreign ministry officials were unavailable for comment, while a spokesman for Russia's atomic energy agency declined comment.

The timing of the Bushehr plant's start-up is viewed by Israel and Washington as a key element in a nuclear drive they suspect is a front for developing nuclear weapons.

Iran says it wants only nuclear-generated electricity, but it has concealed enrichment in the past and has stonewalled IAEA inquiries into indications of a military side to its programme.

The UN Security Council has twice enacted modest sanctions against Iran over its failure to cooperate.

This week, a senior IAEA delegation is in Tehran to nudge the Iranians towards fulfilling a pledge to ease restrictions on inspector access to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, part of a broader process to obtain full Iranian nuclear transparency.

The deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said today that Tehran expects its willingness to give the IAEA more access to help it avoid further sanctions.

PAYMENTS, POLITICS AT ISSUE Russia has repeatedly delayed the plant and has put off a previous September 2007 start date until autumn, 2008.

Tehran has denied being behind in payments. Russia, seen as Iran's closest big-power ally and a key force blocking US-led efforts for harsher sanctions, says the delay is not political.

But diplomats said Moscow appeared to be using Bushehr in a wider chess match between six world powers -- including the United States, China, Germany, France and Britain -- and Iran over its nuclear aspirations.

''Russia has told Iran they must cooperate with the agency, to clear the deck on the outstanding issues,'' said another senior Vienna-based diplomat who earlier served in Moscow.

''Russia is using the issue of fuel supply to Bushehr to put pressure on the Iranians. Do you think the Russians want to be seen as responsible for letting the Iranians produce a nuclear bomb? Russia will use every trick in their bag to prevent that.'' Russian officials say the fuel must arrive at Bushehr at least six months before the reactors come on line.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he could not confirm whether Russia had attached further conditions for delivering fuel to Bushehr, but added: ''The Russians as much as anyone else continue to believe that the Iranians need to meet their obligations before they can have a chance at really having a normal relationship with the rest of the world when it comes to nuclear issues.'' Reuters RC VP0105