Vienna: Iran has responded to queries raised by the Vienna group of diplomatic powers over a nuclear fuel swap deal proposed by Brazil, Turkey and Tehran, the UN`s atomic watchdog said Tuesday.
"IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano today received a letter from the government of Iran concerning the provision of nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor," the
International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
The Vienna group, comprising Russia, France and the United States, had raised several questions regarding the deal proposed by Brazil, Turkey and Iran on May 17 that has since come to be known as the Tehran Declaration.
"The letter has been conveyed to the governments of France, Russia and the United States, as well as to the governments of Brazil and Turkey," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said.
The agency did not say how Iran had responded.
Iran`s Fars news agency reported earlier Monday that Iran`s response, in the form of a letter to the IAEA, was signed by the country`s atomic chief, Ali Akbar Salehi.
Iranian state television later quoted Tehran`s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying that he had handed over the letter.
The state television`s website said Iran had not laid down any preconditions for talks in its response, and had asserted that whenever the Vienna group was ready, Tehran would be prepared to swap the fuel.
The deal proposed that Iran send 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey in return at a later date for high-enriched uranium to be used as fuel for a research
reactor in the capital.
World powers cold-shouldered this proposal.
Bureau Report
