Report: Iran has not yet replied to nuclear watchdog on fuel deal

Oct 30, 2009, 17:58 GMT

Tehran - Iran has not yet replied to the proposed international uranium exchange deal drafted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the country's official IRNA news agency reported Friday.

IRNA quoted an unnamed official source as saying that Iran has informed the Vienna-based IAEA only of Tehran's positive approach but not yet given a final official reply to the deal.

The United States, Russia and France has already told the IAEA that they approve of the four-country deal under which Iran would ship enriched uranium to Russia and France for further processing into fuel for a medical-purpose reactor in Tehran.

Iranian media had on Thursday reported that Tehran's reply had already been delivered to the Vienna-based agency, but that 'important technical and economic amendments' were demanded.

The unnamed source told IRNA that Iran wanted more detailed discussion on the deal and possibilities such as obtaining the nuclear fuel for its Tehran reactors simultaneously while giving its own low-enriched uranium, before giving the final reply.

Earlier reports said Iran has agreed in principle but reportedly wants some changes such as the option of rather than exchanging its entire 1.3 tons of uranium, doing so in several phases or purchasing a portion of the high-enriched uranium.

Some observers have suggested that Iran is using the nuclear fuel talks as pretext for resuming talks with the world powers over acknowledgement of its nuclear programmes.

Some technical experts in Tehran, as well as parliamentarians, believe that purchasing the fuel for the Tehran reactor would be more economical for Iran than exchanging the low-enriched uranium for whose know-how and production Iran has invested a lot.