Urge for Iran's swift answer on nuclear plan

Britain and Russia both demand that Iran gives a a prompt response to a United Nations-drafted nuclear deal.

MOSCOW, November 2, 2009 (AFP) - Britain and Russia both demand that Iran gives a a prompt response to a United Nations-drafted nuclear fuel deal, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on a visit to Moscow on Monday.

"We both want to see a prompt response from the Iranian regime," Miliband said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Iran has delayed giving a clear response to the draft agreement brokered by the UN atomic energy watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is seen as a possible solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff.

The Islamic Republic is under pressure to sign the deal, which would see its low-enriched uranium sent to Russia and France for conversion into fuel and sent back to a Tehran research reactor monitored by the IAEA.

Russia, which has closer ties with Iran than any other major world power, is seen as a key player in any possible solution to the standoff.