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Iran Seeks Guarantees On UN-Proposed Nuclear Deal 76 days ago
(RTTNews) - Iran said Tuesday that Tehran is not opposed to sending its low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment as per a UN-proposed deal, but demanded guarantees that it would receive 20% enriched uranium in exchange for the 3.5% enriched uranium it ships abroad.
"The exchange of nuclear fuel on our country's soil is one of the 100 percent guarantees we are seeking in regard to the enriched uranium," state-run news agencies quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying on Tuesday.
"We are looking for 100 percent guarantees. This doesn't mean that we are against shipping the 3.5 percent enriched uranium abroad. The way to ship out the fuel is a matter up for negotiation," he added.
Pointing out that several western countries, including Britain and France, had failed to honor their commitments to Iran in the past, Ramin said that Tehran would consider sending its 3.5 percent enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment if there were "no ambiguities in providing the fuel for the Tehran reactor."
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.
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.
Though Iran says its nuclear program is intended for peaceful civilian power generation purposes only, the West believes 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.
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.
Last 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.
Following the Iranian response, the six world powers coordinating the nuclear talks with Iran expressed disappointment over Tehran's failure to respond positively to a UN-proposed nuclear deal. The six world powers engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran are the U.S., Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany.
The six, however, stressed that they would continue with their efforts to engage in dialogue with Iran over the issue. The group would meet later to asses the situation and to decide on future steps to be taken for persuading Teheran to rollback its nuclear program.
Earlier, IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei 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.
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.
As a part of the agreement reached in Geneva, Tehran allowed IAEA inspectors to visit Iran's recently disclosed Fordo nuclear plant near the city of Qom, but is yet to respond positively to the second part of the agreement.
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