Iran must respond to IAEA on uranium swap: EU

The European Union responded cautiously on Saturday to Iran's comments on swapping some of its uranium stockpile, saying Tehran must take its response on the proposal to the UN nuclear watchdog.                                           

Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the annual Munich Security Conference on Friday he saw good prospects for clinching a deal with world powers on exchanging some of Tehran's low-enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel it could use in a Tehran research reactor producing medical isotopes.                                           

Western powers see the potential swap as a means to ensure Tehran does not further enrich its uranium for potential use in a nuclear weapon, an intention that Iran denies.                                           

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton told the Munich conference: "Iran must now respond to the director general of the IAEA on the question of the refuelling of the Tehran research reactor."                                           

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano was due to meet Mottaki on Saturday.                                           

US president Barack Obama's 'imaginative' policies towards Iran had so far gone without adequate response, Ashton said.                                           

"There is a need to restore confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's programme," Ashton said.                                           

"This must be done by dialogue. But dialogue takes two, and I'm ready to engage in meaningful and productive talks that deal directly with the issues that trouble us."