Iran signs nuclear fuel deal with Russia

Iran and Russia signed a nuclear fuel agreement on Sunday, despite U.S. objections to Russian support of Tehran's nuclear ambitions, paving the way for Iran to get its first reactor up and running.

Iranian Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh and Alexander Rumyantsev, the head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency, signed the agreement at the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The signing was delayed by a day, and came after the two senior officials toured the US$800 million (E613.5 million) complex.

The signing came a few days after a summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia, which touched on American concerns over Russian support for Iran's nuclear program.

Diplomats: Iran acquired full know-how on nuclear technology:

Meanwhile, information handed to Iran by members of a black market network gave it all the basic knowledge it needed by the late 1980s to set up technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons, diplomats said Sunday.

The officials, who are familiar with the work of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spoke to The Associated Press on the eve of a board meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog that will discuss Iran and other potential world nuclear concerns.