Iran's Mottaki eyes nuclear deal soon, demands changes (Roundup)

Feb 5, 2010, 23:44 GMT

Munich - Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Friday said he hoped for an international deal giving his country access to enriched uranium soon, but said that he wanted changes to the details of the proposal.

His message came just days after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signalled that his country was ready to accept a deal, in what was seen as a possible breakthrough.

'The most important point is the political will. Personally I feel this will is there,' Mottaki said in a late-night debate with Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt at the prestigious annual Munich Security Conference.

'I personally believe that we have created a conducive ground for such an exchange in the not very distant future,' he said.

The agreement proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would see Iran ship low-intensity uranium abroad for enrichment and later re-import it for use in a medical reactor, used to fight cancer, in Tehran.

The deal was proposed to allow Iran access to nuclear fuel without having to enrich its own uranium. Western states fear Iran's own enrichment programme is designed to develop a nuclear bomb.

'It is the recognised right of Iran to enjoy a peaceful nuclear programme,' Mottaki said. He implicitly accused Europe of double standards for criticizing Iran's nuclear programme but not imposing sanctions on Israel for its development of nuclear weapons.

Bildt acknowledged Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power, but insisted that it should suspend its domestic uranium enrichment programme in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions.

'The UN Security Council asked you, and it's not anyone, it's the UN Security Council - the highest body in the world,' he said.

'I think that (suspension of enrichment) is a fairly reasonable demand: you have no reactors running and the one you're about to stand up has fuel for years to come from Russia. Suspension has no price for you,' he stressed.

Bildt demanded that Iran schedule as soon as possible a meeting with the IAEA in which it would present a detailed proposal for how it believes the nuclear exchange should run.

And on the question of Israel's nuclear arsenal, he said that 'the number one step is to prevent further nuclear proliferation because that would be profoundly dangerous.'

Mottaki did not answer Bildt's demand, but said nonetheless that he believed the diplomatic atmosphere had improved recently.

At the same time, he warned that his country would not accept the IAEA's proposed timeline, which would see Iran export its uranium and wait for up to a year before receiving the enriched fuel.

'Here there must be a guarantee for both sides that this (low-enriched uranium) will be given for sure and (highly-enriched uranium) will be given back for sure, this is the mechanism which there is the possibility to reach a compromise,' he said.

The best way to guarantee that would be for Iran's future supplier to start enriching uranium feedstock now, so that the exchange could take place simultaneously in some months' time, he said.

Western nations have so far insisted that Tehran stick to the full terms of the IAEA proposal.

Also addressing the conference, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiemin said that China would not support the introduction of United Nations sanctions against Iran following Ahmadinejad's announcement.

'In order not to complicate the situation, it is better now to concentrate on consultation and dialogue to achieve a satisfactory solution,' Yang said.