Iran ready for immediate nuclear fuel talks

Iran today said that it was ready for immediate talks with the United States, Russia and France over an exchange of nuclear fuel and added that it was also against stockpiling higher enriched uranium.

The comments by the Islamic republic's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi came as Washington decided to fan out across Asia, the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates asking its partners to levy tighter sanctions against Tehran.

"We are ready even in the next few days to start negotiations with the other parties over the fuel swap," Salehi was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

He said that talks on this issue with the so-called Vienna group comprising the United States, Russia and France will be held in Vienna, where the UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is based.

The Vienna group has raised questions about a proposal forwarded by Iran, Brazil and Turkey concerning a fuel swap.

The May 17 proposal, known as the Tehran Declaration, stipulates that Tehran send 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey in return for 20% high-enriched uranium to be supplied at a later date.

The 20% enriched uranium, when converted into fuel plates, will be used as fuel for a Tehran-based research reactor.

Salehi said that Iran has already responded to the questions raised by the Vienna group, but that any other technical queries can be answered during another meeting.

The Tehran Declaration was Iran's counter-proposal to an earlier plan drafted by the IAEA for a fuel swap deal.

After that plan hit deadlock, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered Salehi to produce 20% enriched uranium inside the country, in defiance of world powers which want Tehran to stop the sensitive process.

Enriching uranium is at the heart of the controversy over Iran's nuclear programme because the material can be used to power nuclear reactors as well as to make atom bombs.

Experts say that by enriching uranium to 20%, Iran has theoretically come closer to enriching it to the 90% purity required for making nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies that its uranium enrichment programme has any military goals. But the world powers which dismiss Tehran's arguments have gone ahead and levied new sanctions against Iran.

Today, Salehi again attempted to clarify Iran's position, saying that it was against stockpiling the 20 percent enriched uranium.

"We need 20% fuel for the Tehran research reactor at the moment," Salehi said. "We have said before that we are producing 20 percent only for our needs. We do not want to stockpile 20 percent fuel."