YAHOO!

Jerry Yang CEO and Chief Yahoo! Download larger image (85k) Print Biography Jerry Yang, a Taiwanese native raised in San Jose, Calif., co-created the Yahoo! Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with David Filo and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April 1995. He was appointed chief executive officer of the company in June 2007. Mr. Yang, a leading force in the Internet media industry, has been instrumental in building Yahoo! into the world's most highly trafficked Web site and one of the world's most recognized brands. Since the company's founding, Mr. Yang has been a key member of the executive management team. His focus at Yahoo! over the years has included corporate strategy, Yahoo!'s technology vision, strategic business partnerships and international joint ventures, and recruiting key talent. In addition to serving on the Yahoo! Board of Directors, Mr. Yang currently serves on the board of directors of Cisco Systems, Yahoo! Japan, and Alibaba, and is also on the Stanford University Board of Trustees. Mr. Yang holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University and is currently on a leave of absence from Stanford's electrical engineering Ph.D. program.

David Filo Co-founder and Chief Yahoo! Download larger image (81k) Print Biography David Filo, a native of Moss Bluff, La., co-created the Yahoo! Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with Jerry Yang and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April 1995. Filo serves as a key technologist, directing the technical operations behind the company's global network of Web properties. He is credited with helping build Yahoo! into the world's most highly trafficked Web site and one of the Internet's most recognized brands. Filo holds a B.S. degree in computer engineering from Tulane University and an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He is currently on a leave of absence from Stanford's electrical engineering Ph.D. program.

Susan Decker President Download larger image (99k) Print Biography As the president of Yahoo! Inc., Susan L. Decker is a key participant in determining Yahoo!'s business strategy and vision. She is responsible for the all of the global business operations of Yahoo!, including sales, product marketing, product, and distribution across the three major customer groups of audience, advertisers and publishers. Prior to that, from December 2006 – June 2007, she served as the head of one Yahoo!'s two major business units, the Advertiser and Publisher Group (APG), where she was instrumental in developing the company's recent reorganization plan and strategy to transform how advertisers connect with their target customers on the Internet. Prior to her APG role, Decker was executive vice president and chief financial officer from June 2000 – June 2007, managing all aspects of the company's financial and administrative direction within key functional areas, including finance, facilities, investor relations (and human resources and legal through December 2006). Prior to joining Yahoo! in June 2000, Decker was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) for 14 years. Most recently, she served as the global director of equity research, a $300 million operation, where, among other things, she was responsible for building and staffing a non-U.S. research product based on global sector teams. Before serving as DLJ's global and domestic head of research, she spent 12 years as an equity research analyst, providing coverage to institutional investors on more than 30 media, publishing, and advertising stocks. In this capacity, she received recognition by Institutional Investor magazine as a top rated analyst for ten consecutive years. Decker holds a bachelor of science degree from Tufts University, with a double major in computer science and economics, and a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School. She also received the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst in 1989 and served on the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) for a four-year term, from January 2000 to January 2004. Decker served on the board of directors of Pixar Animation Studios from June 2004 to May 2006, until its sale to Disney and The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) from March 2005 to May 2007. Decker currently serves on the board of directors for Berkshire Hathaway, Intel Corporation and Costco Wholesale.

Blake Jorgensen Chief Financial Officer Download larger image (238k) Print Biography Blake Jorgensen joined Yahoo! in June 2007 and is the chief financial officer and a key member of Yahoo!'s executive team. Jorgensen is responsible for overseeing the company's finance, investor relations, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) groups and plays an important role in determining the company's business strategy. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Jorgensen was the chief operating officer, co-director of investment banking, and a member of the Executive Committee at Thomas Weisel Partners, which he co-founded in 1998. During this time, he managed all aspects of the publicly traded investment bank and the firm's relationships with key investors and managed several strategic alliances with international partners. Prior to Thomas Weisel Partners, Jorgensen was a managing director and principal at the corporate finance department of Montgomery Securities, where he oversaw the integration of Montgomery Securities into NationsBank and Bank America. He also worked as an independent management consultant to global corporations and has held strategic planning and consulting positions with MAC Group/Gemini Consulting and Marakon Associates. Jorgensen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Marco Boerries Executive Vice President Connected Life Division Download larger image (1.7M) Print Biography Marco Boerries has global responsibility for all aspects of Yahoo!'s Connected Life Division which focuses on connecting people to their passions, their communities and the world's knowledge – anywhere, anytime, on any device. The group encompasses the company's mobile, digital home, PC client and broadband teams around the world, including Yahoo!'s revolutionary Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 and Yahoo! oneSearch products for mobile. Marco is an established industry leader with a compelling vision for enabling digital mobility across mobile, the digital home, PC desktop and broadband industries. Marco joined Yahoo! in 2005 with the acquisition of VerdiSoft. He founded that company in August 2001 to pursue his vision of enabling Digital Mobility across the mobile, broadband, and home networking markets. Prior to founding VerdiSoft, Marco worked at Sun Microsystems as the Vice President and General Manager of Webtop and Application Software. In this role, Marco drove the development of the Solaris Common Desktop Environment, Netscape for Solaris, and OpenOffice.org. As the de facto open source ambassador for Sun, Marco was instrumental in introducing the GNOME project – a free and facile desktop environment for the end-user, and a powerful application framework for the developer. Marco is also the creator of the popular StarOffice Suite. He founded Star Division at age 16, dropping out of high school to pursue his vision of creating an alternative to Microsoft software. Marco sold StarOffice to Sun Microsystems in August 1999. Michael J. Callahan Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Download larger image (643k) Print Biography Mike Callahan was named as executive vice president in 2007, having previously served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Yahoo! since 2003 and has previously held the roles of Yahoo!'s deputy general counsel and assistant secretary. Callahan is responsible for the worldwide legal affairs and public policy of Yahoo!, as well as advising the Company's management and board of directors on strategic and corporate governance matters. Prior to joining Yahoo! in 1999, Callahan was with Electronics for Imaging, Inc. in a business development capacity and as corporate counsel. Prior to EFI, Callahan was with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP concentrating on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance matters. Callahan holds a law degree from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in International Affairs and Arab Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Gregory Coleman Executive Vice President, Global Sales Download larger image (919k) Print Biography Greg Coleman's 25-year career in media and publishing includes key executive roles in the industry's leading traditional and online media organizations. Coleman currently serves as Yahoo!'s executive vice president of Global Sales, overseeing the sales organizations and sales products for Yahoo!'s global brand advertising and search marketing businesses. Coleman joined Yahoo! in 2001, and helped build and solidify Yahoo!'s recognized leadership in the online advertising marketplace. He also chairs Yahoo!'s internal Ad Council, which sets the company's advertising policy and helps drive the overall strategic direction of Yahoo!'s advertising business. Before joining Yahoo!, Coleman was senior vice president of Reader's Digest Association and president of U.S. Magazine Publishing. He was responsible for the company's magazine properties, including Reader's Digest, the world's largest magazine. In this role, he was responsible for the magazine division's advertising, circulation, production, customer service, and financial initiatives. Coleman previously served as vice president and worldwide publisher of Reader's Digest, directing overall business for the magazine's 48 editions, published in 19 languages. He also led the U.S.-based Reader's Digest to four consecutive years of record advertising revenues and profitability. Before joining Reader's Digest, Coleman was founding publisher of Memories magazine at Diamandis Communications. He also worked at CBS, Inc., where he spent 10 years as vice president and national sales manager, leading advertising efforts for Woman's Day. Coleman holds a B.S. degree in business administration from Georgetown University and attended the M.B.A. program at New York University. Dr. Usama Fayyad Chief Data Officer and Executive Vice President, Research & Strategic Data Solutions Download larger image (71k) Print Biography Dr. Usama Fayyad is Yahoo!'s executive vice president of Research & Strategic Data Solutions. Fayyad is responsible for Yahoo!'s overall data strategy, architecting Yahoo!'s data policies and systems, prioritizing data investments, and managing the Company's data analytics and data processing infrastructure. The analysis and management of data within Fayyad's group enables Yahoo! to ensure customer satisfaction and develop innovative products and services that are essential to consumers' lives. Fayyad also oversees the Yahoo! Research organization that includes offices in Sunnyvale, Burbank and Berkeley, CA as well as New York, Europe, and S. America. Yahoo! Research is building the premier scientific research organization to develop the new sciences of the Internet, on-line marketing, and innovative interactive applications. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Fayyad co-founded and led the DMX Group, a data mining and data strategy consulting company. In early 2000, he co-founded and served as CEO of digiMine Inc. (now Revenue Science, Inc.), a data analysis and data mining company that built, operated and hosted data warehouses and analytics for some of the world's largest enterprises in online publishing, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications and financial services. Fayyad's professional experience also includes five years spent leading the data mining and exploration group at Microsoft Research and building the data mining products for Microsoft's server division. From 1989 to 1996 Fayyad held a leadership role at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where his work in the analysis and exploration of scientific databases gathered from observatories, remote-sensing platforms and spacecraft garnered him the top research excellence award that Caltech awards to JPL scientists, as well as a U.S. Government medal from NASA. Fayyad earned his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1991), and also holds BSE's in both electrical and computer engineering (1984); MSE in computer science and engineering (1986); and M.Sc. in mathematics (1989). He has published over 100 technical articles in the fields of data mining and Artificial Intelligence, is a Fellow of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, has edited two influential books on the data mining and launched and served as editor-in-chief of both the primary scientific journal in the field and the primary newsletter in the technical community published by the ACM. He regularly delivers keynotes and talks at government, industry and academic conferences around the world.

Qi Lu Executive Vice President of Engineering Search and Search Marketing Download larger image (938k) Print Biography Dr. Qi Lu is executive vice president of engineering for Search and Search Marketing at Yahoo! where he leads development efforts around Yahoo!'s Web search and monetization platforms. Prior to joining Yahoo! in 1998, Dr. Lu was a Research Staff Member at IBM Almaden Research Center. Before that, Dr. Lu worked at Carnegie Mellon University as a Research Associate, and at Fudan University in China as a faculty member. He holds 20 U.S. patents, and received his B.S. and M.S. in computer science from Fudan University and his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. Michael Murray Chief Accounting Officer Download larger image (938k) Print Biography Mick Murray joined Yahoo! in November 2004 as senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer. In this role he is responsible for driving Yahoo!'s vision for scaling the organization to support its growing global business, compliance, infrastructure and operational needs. Murray joined Yahoo! with more than 25 years of financial management experience in both corporate and public accounting environments. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Murray held various positions with Sun Microsystems for more than 15 years, and spent 10 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers prior to that. His corporate experience spans all of the major finance functions, including corporate governance, accounting, external reporting, planning, analysis and strategy, risk management, global supplier management, SMI communications, quality and sigma functions, treasury, and tax and systems. Murray has a wide breadth of expertise in fiduciary and business partner roles. He has held corporate positions in internal audit, shared financial services in AsiaPac, and as assistant corporate controller. His business partner experience includes supporting Sun's Asia operations, Australasia businesses and Sun Services. Prior to joining Sun, Murray worked in the audit practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland. Murray holds a Bachelor's in Communication and a Master of Business Studies degrees from the University College in Dublin, Ireland. He is also a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Jill Nash Chief Communications Officer Download larger image (678k) Print Biography As a key member of the Yahoo! executive team, Nash will be responsible for the company's worldwide communications efforts, including public and media relations, corporate reputation, corporate, financial and employee communications, and crisis and issues management. Prior to joining Yahoo! in January 2007, Nash was the vice president of global corporate communications at Gap Inc, where she managed all aspects of communications for the company with a focus on reputation management, cultural transformation, and corporate and branding strategies. During her tenure with Gap Inc., she led the communications efforts for the launch of two new brands – Forth & Towne and the e-commerce footwear brand Piperlime. She also spearheaded communications for the international expansion of Banana Republic in Japan and Gap franchise stores across the Mideast and Asia, and helped to design communications campaigns for Gap's Product (RED) and Old Navy's Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Previous to Gap Inc., Nash was the senior vice president of corporate communications at Charles Schwab Corporation. She also held marketing and communications roles at KPMG and was responsible for corporate communications at Transamerica Life Companies. Nash has received numerous industry honors, including multiple Gold Quill awards and has served as the president of Organization of Executive Women. She is a graduate of San Diego State University. Ash Patel Executive Vice President, Platforms and Infrastructure Division Download larger image (4.69M) Print Biography Ash Patel is currently Executive Vice President of the Platforms and Infrastructure Division at Yahoo!. He is responsible for global technology investments and platform initiatives both on and off the Yahoo! network. He also leads an increased focus on innovating and developing next-generation services for Yahoo! customers, and oversees divisions including Product Platform Engineering, Platform Strategy & Architecture, and the Advanced Development Division. Since starting at Yahoo! in 1996, Patel has played a key role in architecting and enhancing MyYahoo!, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Chat and many other products that continue to impact millions of Yahoo! users. In 2001, he became SVP of platform engineering, where he was responsible for Yahoo!'s Communications Products, core platforms and infrastructure. In 2006, Patel became Yahoo!'s Chief Product Officer, and was responsible for global product strategy and development, as well as identifying future product trends and emerging technologies. Prior to joining the company, Patel was a principle member of the technical staff at Oracle Corporation, and before that, held a number of software engineer and development positions at technology companies in Silicon Valley and London. Patel holds a Bachelor of Science with honors in Computer Science from the Kings College University of London. Libby Sartain Chief People Yahoo! Download larger image (825K) Print Biography Libby Sartain is responsible for leading Yahoo! Inc.'s global human resources efforts and managing and developing the human resources team. She focuses on attracting, retaining, and developing Yahoo!'s employees who promote and strengthen the company culture, as well as represent the powerful Yahoo! brand. In 2006, Fortune Magazine named Yahoo! one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Prior to joining Yahoo! in August 2001, Sartain was "vice president of people" at Southwest Airlines, where she led all human resources functions including employment, training, benefits and compensation. She also played a key role in developing an employment brand strategy, which helped double employee growth in six years and fostered the company's reputation as a leading employer of choice and one of the most admired companies in America. Sartain also served as chairman of the Society for Human Resource Management in 2001 and was named fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources in 1998. She holds an MBA from the University of North Texas and a BBA from Southern Methodist University. Libby co-authored HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business (AMACOM) as well as Brand from the Inside: Eight Essentials to Connect Your Employees to Your Business (Josey-Bass). She currently divides her time between San Carlos, California, and her ranch near Bastrop, Texas. She is married and has a grown daughter. Hilary Schneider Executive Vice President, Global Partnership Solutions Division Download larger image (734k) Print Biography Hilary Schneider is Executive Vice President of Yahoo!'s Global Partnership Solutions Division. This organization brings together Yahoo!'s advertising sales, online channels, Yahoo! Publisher Network, the company's Corporate Partnerships team and Yahoo! HotJobs. This division will meet advertisers' needs by getting them access to the best audiences on and off Yahoo!'s network, and publisher needs by bringing national and local advertisers to reach their diverse audiences. When Schneider joined the company in September of 2006, she became the leader of a newly formed business that was called Local Markets and Commerce. In that role, she was charged with developing an overarching classified and listings strategy as well as day-to-day oversight of Yahoo! listings and commerce properties in the U.S. Additionally, Schneider has been instrumental in the creation and development of a significant cross-company partnership with U.S. publishing companies, including hundreds of daily newspapers. In February of 2007, Schneider's deep experience in the publishing business was tapped when she was given additional responsibility to provide leadership and strategic direction to the Yahoo! Publisher Network. The Yahoo! Publisher Network helps publishers grow their businesses by syndicating Yahoo!'s advertiser network, content and social media network. It also provides relevant ads and other services off the Yahoo! network to help publishers better engage with their audiences. Prior to joining the company, Schneider was the senior vice president for Knight Ridder, Inc., a $3 billion revenue company, where she co-managed the newspaper operations and led its digital division. Under her leadership, Knight Ridder's online revenue tripled and the division's profit margins grew significantly. During her tenure at Knight Ridder, Schneider also served as the president and CEO of Knight Ridder Digital, the online operations of Knight Ridder, Inc.'s 32 Web sites. She has served on the boards of CareerBuilder.com, Classified Ventures, Topix,net., ShopLocal and the Newspaper Association of America. Prior to Knight Ridder, Schneider was the president and CEO of Red Herring Communications, where she oversaw Red Herring Magazine, RedHerring.com and Red Herring's events unit. She also served as the president and CEO of Times Mirror Interactive, where she managed all of Time Mirror's Internet businesses, including more than 34 of its Web sites. Schneider also served seven years with The Baltimore Sun Company in a number of positions across new business development and sales & marketing, which led to her role as general manager of business operations. Schneider holds a B.A. in economics from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Jeff Weiner Executive Vice President, Network Division Download larger image (988k) Print Biography Jeff Weiner serves as executive vice president of Yahoo!'s Network Division and is a key member of the company's executive team. In this role, Weiner oversees the majority of Yahoo!'s consumer-facing assets including Yahoo.com, Search, the community and social media properties such as Groups, Flickr and Bix, Communications products such as Mail and Messenger, commerce businesses including Shopping, Travel, Autos, Real Estate and Local, as well as the media properties under News and Information and Entertainment. From 2002 to 2006, Weiner served as senior vice president overseeing the Yahoo! Search and Marketplaces division which included Search as well as Local, Shopping, Travel and Autos businesses. Beginning in November 2005, Weiner added responsibilities for Yahoo Search Marketing and Yahoo! Small Business. During his tenure, Weiner was part of the Search leadership team that directed the acquisition and integration of Inktomi, AltaVista, FAST and the development of Yahoo! Search Technology. Additionally, he helped launch the company's suite of social search products – including Yahoo! Answers – and led the acquisitions of del.icio.us and Flickr. He was also part of the leadership team that oversaw the company's revitalized Search Marketing efforts. While overseeing Search and Marketplace, Weiner also helped establish the Technology Development Group, a team focused on technology incubation and evangelism which has since evolved into Yahoo!'s corporate-wide Advanced Product Team. From 2001 to 2002, Weiner was the senior vice president of corporate development at Yahoo!, where he was responsible for overseeing the development and modification of overall corporate and individual business unit strategy as well as mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Yahoo!, Weiner was the co-founder of Windsor Digital, a private equity firm focused on digital and media investments. From 1994 to 2000, he worked at Warner Bros., where after starting in the corporate planning and development group, he helped conceive the initial plan for Warner Bros. Online and played a key role in developing and overseeing the division. Weiner holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Iran indicates it is building another nuclear plant

By Nazila Fathi

Published: December 17, 2007

www.iht.com

TEHRAN: Iran confirmed on Monday that it had received the first fuel shipment for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr, but also indicated for the first time that it was building a second nuclear power plant.

The revelation came in comments by Iran's Atomic Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, made to state-run television and reported by the semi-official Fars news agency. He was dismissing speculation that the arrival of the fuel would allow Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, in Natanz.

"We are building a 360-megawatt indigenous power plant in Darkhovein," he said, referring to a southern city north of Bushehr.

"The fuel for this plant needs to be produced by Natanz enrichment plant," he added, Fars said.

Bushehr and Darkhovein were both projects planned before the 1979 Revolution. It was not clear how much construction had been done at Darkhovein. The location is also sometimes spelled Darkhovin, or referred to by other nearby place names, including Ahvaz, Esteghlal and Karun.

Aghazadeh said Monday that Iran needed to increase the centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment plant from 3,000 to 50,000, saying that with the current 3,000, it could only produce fuel for a 100-megawatt plant.

The White House had signaled on Monday that the arrival of the fuel could help convince Iran to curb its enrichment program. President George W. Bush that If Iran accepted the uranium for a civilian power plant, "there was no need for them to learn how to enrich," Reuters reported.

Aghazadeh said the shipment was made after an agreement was made between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit in October to Tehran.

Construction of Bushehr has been hindered by repeated delays. Earlier this year Russia delayed a fuel shipment expected in March, accusing Iran of tardiness in making its monthly payments of $25 million. However, Western officials said that Russia made the decision in part to help the West to pressure Iran into more openness on its nuclear program.

Last week, Sergei Shmatko, the director of Atomstroyexport, announced that Russia and Iran had ended their financial disputes over the project, though he failed to indicate a date for when the long-awaited opening would occur.

Esipova said the plant will be technically ready to operate no sooner than six months after all the uranium fuel rods needed to power the station are delivered.

Aghazadeh said Monday that almost 95 percent of the work at Bushehr was finished and it could produce power as early as the next Iranian year, which begins on March 21.

"The first phase of delivery has been completed," said Irina Esipova, a spokeswoman for Atomstroyexport, the Russian contractor on the project. "A small amount of fuel is already on the premises of the Bushehr station in a special storage facility." The company plans to deliver about 80 tons of nuclear fuel to Iran over the next two months, she said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the fuel would be under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency and that Iran had given written guarantees that the fuel would only be used for the nuclear power plant.

"All fuel that will be delivered will be under the control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it stays on Iranian territory," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Moreover, the Iranian side gave additional written guarantees that the fuel will be used only for the Bushehr nuclear power plant."

The statement added: "After the Russian fuel is processed at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, it will be returned to Russia for further processing and storage."

The power station is at the heart of an international dispute over Iran's nuclear program. Iran insists that Bushehr is part of a civilian nuclear program. However, critics, particularly in the United States and Western Europe, have accused Tehran of secretly developing or planning to develop a nuclear bomb.

The United States released a National Intelligence Estimate two weeks ago concluding that Tehran ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, undermining earlier claims by the Bush administration that Iran was actively developing a nuclear weapon.

Officials in Washington have nevertheless continued to insist that Iran remains a threat, sentiments which have been echoed by some European leaders. Iran considers itself to have been vindicated by the intelligence report. On Sunday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the nuclear issue his "toughest battle and challenge" in recent years, but said the intelligence report had boosted Iran's international status, a statement on the website of Iran's Foreign Ministry said.

Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting from Moscow and Graham Bowley from New York.

Russia announces delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran

By Borzou Daragahi and Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
8:47 PM PST, December 17, 2007

TEHRAN, Iran -- After years of delay, Russia announced Monday that it had delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel to a reactor in southern Iran, a move Washington had long sought to delay to pressure Tehran not to pursue its own enrichment program.

Delivery of the nuclear fuel rods will ensure that the $1 billion power plant being built by Russia's state-owned Atomstroyexport Corp. in the southern port city of Bushehr will be up and running by next year, Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh, chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, told state television.

He cast Russia's decision as evidence that Iran had convinced other countries that it was only pursuing nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

The United States and its allies suspect Iran of trying to produce fuel for a nuclear weapon, and the U.N. Security Council has twice imposed sanctions on the country because of its enrichment program. A new U.S. intelligence report released two weeks ago said Iran had frozen its weapons program in 2003.

But President Bush says Iran remains a threat because it continues to enrich uranium. At lower levels of enrichment, the fuel can be used to generate electricity; at higher levels it can be used to make a bomb. The Bush administration had pressed Russia to withhold further assistance to the Bushehr project, hoping that would signal international concern about Tehran's enrichment efforts.

U.S. officials said Monday that Russia's decision showed that Iran did not need to pursue its own program.

At an appearance in northern Virginia, President Bush said that "if the Russians are willing to do that -- which I support -- then the Iranians do not need to learn how to enrich. If the Iranians accept that uranium for a civilian nuclear power plant, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said following a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris that Iran should rely on nuclear fuel supplies from another country rather than producing its own.

Analysts said that U.S. officials appeared to be putting the best spin on a decision they had opposed. Robert Einhorn, a former top weapons proliferation official in the Clinton and Bush administrations, said Bush's comments were an attempt to "make lemonade out of this lemon."

Aghazadeh, chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, said on state television that Iran would continue its enrichment activities at a facility in the central city of Natanz to provide fuel for another 360-megawatt reactor it plans to build in the southwestern town of Darkhoein (or Darkhovin) near the Iraqi border. Iran insists it wants nuclear technology to generate electricity in the event its oil reserves expire.

The U.S. and Israel suspect that the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, a heavy water reactor in Arak and other nuclear facilities are building blocks for an eventual weapons program. For those activities, Washington hawks have suggested Iran could face U.S. military action.

No one suspects Iran of harboring a secret bomb factory at Bushehr. But some scientists say spent fuel from a light-water reactor could be used to create fissile material for a bomb.

Moscow's Foreign Ministry insists it won't allow the fuel to be diverted. "All fuel that will be delivered will be under control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it stays on Iranian territory," it said in a statement Monday.

"All our processed fuel is to be returned, gram by gram," said Sergei Karganov, chairman of the Council on Defense and Foreign Policy in Moscow. "It was actually kind of a political lever more than an actual concern that our fuel could be used for weapons," he said. "It can't be used for weapons under any circumstances. This is a fact of life."

Delivery of 80 tons of uranium fuel to Bushehr will take up to two months, said Irina Yesipova, an Atomstroyexport spokeswoman.

Russia has always insisted it delayed supplying the fuel rods for the Bushehr plant because of financial disputes with Iranian counterparts. But many analysts have said that Russia was concerned about the direction of Iran's nuclear program, which could pose a far greater threat to Eastern Europe than North America.

Bush administration officials also say they don't want Iran to gain advanced nuclear expertise. They mistrust Iran's government, pointing to Iran's 15-year clandestine program, which was exposed by a dissident group earlier this decade.

The U.S., along with France and the United Kingdom, had been steadily pushing for a third round of sanctions when the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate released this month concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program.

China and Russia, which wield veto power on the council, have balked at new sanctions. But with the release of the NIE reducing the threat of a U.S. attack on Iran, the two countries are closing a number of financial deals with Iran that they had put on hold.

"For us, the old information we got was that they didn't have a military program," said Karganov. "Now it has been confirmed by the U.S. intelligence. Thank God, because it has ended speculation that the Americans are preparing a massive attack."

Beijing signed a $2 billion energy deal with Tehran. Russia will sell Iran 130 Russian-made Tupolev passenger planes over the next 10 years, to upgrade Iran's aging fleet of Boeing and Airbus jets, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry said in a statement Monday that Lukoil Overseas will be resuming operations at an Iranian oil field that had been halted because of U.S. sanctions.

Russia's EuroChem Mineral Chemical Company was holding talks about building a factory with Iran's National Petrochemical Company in Moscow on Monday, according to Interfax.

Russian Defense Minister Mikhail Dmitriev and a high-ranking military delegation are scheduled to arrive in Tehran Wednesday to meet with Iranian counterparts.

And though the Bush administration has urged Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to curtail its multibillion-dollar nuclear trade with Tehran, Russia delivered the fuel to the Bushehr plant, which is being built by Russian scientists and engineers who live with their families in the Persian Gulf port city.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a televised interview Sunday, said Iran had reaped a harvest from the U.S. intelligence estimate, which undercut the possibility of U.S. airstrikes to halt or slow Iran's nuclear program.

"The nuclear issue, after a period of escalation reached a climax but now is in its anti-climax and de-escalation state," said Ahmadinejad, who departed for Saudi Arabia on Monday as the first Iranian president to receive a prestigious invitation to attend the pilgrimage to Mecca.

"I think the NIE report was a U-turn in the U.S. This U-turn is the result of internal disputes in the U.S. administration -- which I do not want to elaborate more on now -- and the steadfastness of the Iranian nation," he said.

Times staff writer Daragahi reported from Tehran and Stack from Moscow. Times staff writer James Gerstenzang in Washington, Paul Richter in Washington and special correspondents Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran and Sergei I. Loiko in Moscow contributed to this report.