Iran to review UN nuclear deal for enrichment in Russia, France

Nov 2, 2009, 3:20 GMT

   Kuala Lumpur - Iran has asked for the setting up of a technical commission to review a United Nations-drafted nuclear fuel deal which aims to resolve the controversy over Tehran's atomic drive, its foreign minister said Monday.

   The deal, if it goes ahead, would see Iran's low-enriched uranium sent to Russia and France for further enrichment and conversion into fuel, after which it would be returned for use in a medical-purpose nuclear reactor in Tehran under constant monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

   'We have considered this proposal, we have some technical and economic considerations on that,' Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on the sidelines of a meeting of developing countries in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.

   'Two days ago, we passed our views and observations to the IAEA.

   'So it is very much possible to establish a technical commission to review and reconsider all the issues,' he told reporters Monday.

   Mottaki also stressed that Iran would 'continue with enrichment' of uranium for fuel in its power stations.

   The US and France have called on Iran to make clear its position on the deal, with Washington threatening new rounds of sanctions unless Tehran adopts a more transparent stand on its nuclear enrichment activities.

   Iran has maintained that it is enriching uranium only to power reactors, but the technology can also be used to make nuclear weapons material.