Tehran: Iran said on Monday it wants a review
of the UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal, indicating it prefers to
purchase the supplies directly rather than sending its own
uranium abroad.
Tehran's latest stance on the high-profile proposal
came as close ally Moscow and London urged the Islamic
republic to accept the offer which aims at applying the brakes
on Iran's galloping nuclear programme.
"We are ready to buy the fuel from any supplier under
the full surveillance of the IAEA, as we bought from Argentina
about 20 years ago with the cooperation of the IAEA," Ali
Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran's envoy to the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) said to a news agency in Vienna.
Soltanieh did not clarify whether Iran was rejecting
the present UN draft plan, which proposes to ship Tehran's
low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing and
conversion into fuel.
World powers are backing the draft as they fear
Tehran could enrich its stock of LEU to very high levels under
the pretext of making fuel for a Tehran reactor, and use it to
produce atomic weapons. Tehran denies these charges.
Soltanieh insisted Tehran prefers to buy the fuel
but said its key aim is to obtain guaranteed supplies. Iran is
ready for another meeting in Vienna to discuss the technical
details, he said.
"We expect that like any other country, we will be
able to buy and pay for it without any other condition, under
the IAEA full scope safeguards of course," he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 00:34