US to give Iran "space" to mull nuclear fuel deal (Roundup)

Nov 9, 2009, 14:28 GMT

Vienna/Tehran - The United States is willing to give Iran time to come up with a response to a proposed multinational nuclear fuel deal, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Glyn Davies, said Monday.

'We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, obviously,' Davies told reporters in Vienna, adding, however, that Washington hopes for a response soon.

Since the IAEA drew up a draft deal last month to ship Iranian uranium abroad and exchange it for foreign-made fuel for a medical nuclear reactor in Tehran, some Iranian politicians have reacted negatively to the proposal.

However, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeid Jalili, said the reasons why his country has not yet formally responded to the IAEA were not political.

'The nuclear deal has some economic angles and therefore technical and economic experts' opinions should be thoroughly considered,' Jalili told visiting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to the ISNA news agency.

The US, Russia and France have already indicated their support for the four-country deal, which would reduce Iran's stock of low- enriched uranium for some time and would help to build confidence in Tehran's nuclear intentions.

'We would welcome further talks with the world powers,' Jalili said.

Under the IAEA's proposal, Iran would exchange its uranium that it enriches to a level of 3.5 per cent at a plant in Natanz, for nuclear fuel of 20-per-cent purity that would be made in Russia and France.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said last week in an interview with CNN that one option would be to store Iran's uranium in a third country that Tehran trusts, such as Turkey, until it receives the reactor fuel.

Davies indirectly denied a report by the New York Times on Monday that the administration of US President Barack Obama has nearly lost hope that the deal will go through, after Iran allegedly rejected this third-country compromise.

Davies said it was obvious that Iran was still considering the deal, saying such debates are a 'normal process.'

   Iran reportedly wants the option of exchanging its 1.2 tons of uranium in several phases, or purchasing a portion of the high- enriched uranium, rather than swapping its stock in one go.

   Some technical experts in Tehran believe that buying the fuel for the Tehran reactor would be more economical for Iran than exchanging the uranium, as a lot has been invested into nuclear know-how and in its production.