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Could the long struggle between Iran and the international community almost be over? The issue of the country's nuclear plants has been rumbling away for six years now, but some people close to talks in Vienna are suggesting that a deal might be ready by tomorrow.

The idea is not a new one. Under the proposed agreement, Iran would send most of its enriched uranium to Russia, where it would be boosted to a higher level and made into fuel rods. The rods would then be returned to Iran unsuitable for use in a weapons programme.

Not only would such a deal sooth foreign concerns about what was happening to Iran's uranium but it would also be a good commercial project for Russia. The returns appear so attractive that France has been insisting that it too be part of the re-processing scheme.

The International Atomic Energy Authority is insisting that a deal be done by Friday. If it happens, tensions could be considerable reduced but there will still be some important outstanding issues.

IAEA inspectors are due to travel on Sunday to the facility near Qom which the US/UK and France alleged last month is a secret nuclear enrichment facility that has been hidden from international supervision. They are hoping to find out whether the Qom plant is associated with other undeclared facilities. These inquiries could produce a new confrontation with the Iranian authorities.

It is also clear that Iran wishes to retain its ability to enrich uranium on home turf and will not put all of its fissile material onto the planned reprocessing scheme. So there could still be scope for argument about whether some of it was being diverted into a weapons programme.

If however the Iranians agree to reprocessing in Russia and close IAEA supervision of their facilities then we might be witnessing a diplomatic breakthrough. The Obama administration will then hail it as a victory for positive diplomatic engagement.