Final deal on Iranian nuclear fuel close: Iranian FM

A "final" deal on sending some Iranian uranium abroad for enrichment is close, Iran`s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said.

Munich: A "final" deal on sending some Iranian uranium abroad for enrichment is close, Iran`s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said.
"With regard to discussions with the different parties, I personally believe that we have created conducive ground for such an exchange in the not very distant future," Mottaki said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

"Under the present conditions that we have reached, I think that we are approaching a final agreement that can be accepted by all parties."

He added that the "Islamic republic of Iran has shown it is serious about doing this, and we have shown it at the highest level," referring to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad said in a television interview late on Tuesday that Tehran would have "no problem" sending abroad its stocks of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to be further purified into fuel.

Iran needs nuclear fuel to power a UN-monitored research reactor in Tehran, but the West fears its uranium enrichment programme masks efforts to produce atomic weapons -- a claim vehemently denied by Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has proposed, in a bid to allay Western fears, that Tehran ship its LEU to Russia and France to be further purified into reactor fuel.

PTI

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