Tehran: Iran does not oppose sending its
low-enriched uranium abroad as long as there is a simultaneous
exchange of nuclear fuel inside the country, the foreign
ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
"Iran is not opposed to sending uranium abroad, but is
considering how to do that," Ramin Mehmanparast told a news
conference.
He said Tehran wanted a "100 per cent guarantee" that it
would receive the fuel required for its research reactor and
"one of the guarantees is a simultaneous exchange of fuel
(exchanging 3.5 per cent enriched uranium with 20 per cent
enriched by world powers) inside the country."
Iran and world powers have been at loggerheads for weeks,
failing to reach a nuclear fuel deal aimed at allaying Western
concerns over Tehran`s nuclear programme.
The West, led by Washington, fears Iran might otherwise
covertly divert some of its LEU stocks for further enrichment
to the much higher levels required for a bomb, an ambition
Iranian officials strongly deny.
To defuse the crisis, the UN atomic watchdog brokered a
deal last month under which Iran would send 1,200 kilograms
(2,640 pounds) of LEU, or 70 per cent of total stocks, to
Russia and then France for conversion into fuel required for
the Tehran reactor.
PTI
