Australia to tell Russia no uranium sales to Iran

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Thursday he would tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would not approve the sale of uranium to Moscow if there was any possibility it could be resold to Iran or Syria.

Howard said he would put Putin "through the ropes" when he meets him on Friday in Sydney on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific leaders' forum.

"The condition on our selling uranium is that we obtain the guarantees necessary to satisfy us that it won't go to Iran and Syria," Howard told local radio.

"We will be taking the Russians through the ropes in relation to any arrangement we have and we will be wanting to satisfy ourselves completely that won't occur," Howard said.

Australia, with 40 percent of the world's reserves of uranium, exports the mineral to 36 nations and hopes to sign a deal with Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies Western accusations he is seeking nuclear bombs, saying Iran's nuclear programme is meant to generate electricity.

Iran, the world's fourth largest crude exporter, has said it wants to build a network of nuclear power plants with a capacity of 20,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020 to enable it to export more of its valuable oil and gas.

Russia is Iran's closest major ally and has helped water down international sanctions against Tehran.