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World Powers Disappointed Over Iran's Failure To Accept UN-Proposed Nuclear Deal

(RTTNews) - Friday, the six world powers coordinating the nuclear talks with Iran expressed disappointment over its failure to respond positively to a UN-proposed nuclear deal aimed at ending the standoff between Tehran and the West over the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program.

"Iran has not engaged in an intensified dialogue and in particular has not accepted... a new meeting before the end of October to discuss nuclear issues," the six world powers -- the U.S., Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany-- said in a statement after a meeting in Brussels Friday.

The six, however, stressed that they would continue with their efforts to engage in dialogue with Iran over the issue, adding that they would meet later to asses the situation and to decide on future steps to be taken for persuading the Teheran to roll back on its nuclear program.

Though Iran says its nuclear program is intended for peaceful civilian power generation purposes only, the West suspect it a cover-up for the Islamic country's nuclear weapon ambitions. Iran has survived three sets of sanctions imposed on it by the UN Security Council following refusal to halt its nuclear development work. The sanctions cover trade in nuclear material, and includes financial and travel restrictions.

Also, Iran is yet to respond formally to a deal proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, for easing international concerns over Teheran's nuclear program.

Earlier in the day, IAEA director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said in Berlin that he is yet to receive a formal response from Iran to the proposed deal, but expressed hopes that he "will get an answer pretty much soon."

"We have not received any written response from Iran. What I got of course is an oral response, which basically said 'we need to keep all the material in Iran until we get the fuel,'" he said. "That to me is a case of extreme mistrust."

ElBaradei had presented the proposal after three days of intense negotiations at an IAEA-hosted meeting in Vienna in early October. The Vienna negotiations involved diplomats from the U.S., France, Russia and Iran. Except for Iran, all the other nations involved in the negotiations have accepted the proposed plan.

Late last month, Iran submitted its initial response to the IAEA-proposed deal, but said later that its response to the proposed deal was "not an answer to the draft agreement," adding that it would present a formal reply to the proposal only after further negotiations based "on its technical and economic considerations regarding how to procure fuel for the Tehran reactor."

The IAEA-proposed plan envisaged shipping low-enriched Iranian uranium to Russia for further enrichment, and then to France for conversion into actual fuel for Teheran's medical-purpose reactor that makes isotopes.

An agreement to process low-enriched Iranian uranium in a third country is widely seen as an amicable solution to the issue, as it would give Iran the nuclear fuel it requires to run its research reactor while guaranteeing the West that Tehran will not have enough nuclear material to convert into finer-grade uranium required for making nuclear weapons.

The Vienna negotiations essentially sought to advance the agreements reached at a previous round of negotiations between Iranian officials and representatives of Great Britain, China, Russia, the U.S., France and Germany in Geneva in early October.

Iran had agreed at the Geneva talks to allow officials from the IAEA to visit and inspect its recently revealed second uranium-enrichment facility. It also agreed in principle to transport some of the low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to a third country for further enrichment and transformation into fuel for use in the Tehran research reactor.

Earlier this week, Iran, however, rejected part of the deal that requires it to ship out its low-enriched uranium to foreign countries for further enrichment, but indicated that it would instead consider exchanging uranium for nuclear fuel if carried out inside the country.

"Iran will not send its 3.5-percent-enriched uranium out of the country," Iranian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying on Wednesday. "That means we are considering to exchange the enriched uranium inside Iran."

A day later, U.S. President Barack Obama said in South Korean that the United States had begun talks with its allies about fresh sanctions to be imposed on Iran after the Islamic regime refused to send its low-enriched uranium out of the country before the fuel it was to receive for the Tehran Research Reactor arrived on its soil.

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