Guyana says Iran deal no threat to U.S. ties

GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Guyana's top diplomat denied opposition charges that an agreement to have Iran map the South American nation's mineral resources, including uranium, could hurt U.S. ties amid global worry over Iran's nuclear program.

President Bharrat Jagdeo, following a visit to Tehran last week, said that Iranian scientists will travel to Guyana to help with minerals management. Guyana has reserves of uranium and the mapping could help develop them.

Guyana's opposition said the agreement could help Iran enrich uranium. Iran's government says its nuclear program is intended for peaceful energy purposes but the United States and other nations suspect it is aimed at making nuclear weapons.

"I do not see the visit, or the areas in which Iran plans to help us, creating a conflict with the United States of America," Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkette said in an email message late on Wednesday.

She said the accord would "help us to produce our own data and better plan for the sector. It is not aimed at focusing on any particular mineral or jeopardizing the interest of any state."

Rafael Trotman, top legislator for the opposition Alliance for Change Party, said on Wednesday the Iranian agreement could fray ties with the United States, a major provider of development aid in Guyana that is financing trade, investment and governance programs.

Iran raised eyebrows last year with offers to help map uranium deposits in Venezuela, where leftist President Hugo Chavez supports Tehran's nuclear program.

The United States, Britain, Germany and France are seeking a fourth round of U.N. measures against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment as part of its nuclear program, as demanded by Security Council resolutions.

Iran also has minerals programs in Cuba and Ecuador, Rodrigues-Birkette said. Iran has agreed to give Guyana $1.5 million to build an institution to train specialist doctors as part of an unrelated cooperation deal.

Uranium is found naturally in a variety of forms but only a particular adapted form of the mineral -- rather than simply the mined ore -- can be used for electricity or explosives.

This type, called U-235 to represent its mass, is present in less than 1 percent of mined ore.

(Editing by Will Dunham)