Iran ready for nuclear fuel swap talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Tehran is ready to sit down with the West to work out a written agreement on a nuclear fuel swap declaration.

“We are ready to negotiate with the Vienna group [the IAEA, the US, Russia, and France] in order to draw up a written agreement,” Mottaki told his Belgian counterpart Steven Vanackere in Brussels on Wednesday.

The Belgian foreign minister expressed approval of the recent Tehran declaration and welcomed the prospect of talks between Iran and Europe, which he said could promote mutual understanding between the two sides.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a declaration in Tehran on May 17, according to which Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel rods to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

The new nuclear declaration gives Iran a guarantee since the low-enriched uranium is to be stored in Turkey and would be returned if Iran does not receive the 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel in a specific time period.

Despite the fact that Iran has agreed to conduct the fuel swap in a third country — a demand by the West that Iran had previously rejected due to guarantee concerns — the US recently announced that the six major powers discussing Iran’s nuclear program had reached an agreement on a draft of a UN resolution against Iran.

Tehran says it sees the declaration as a confidence-building measure that provides an opportunity for cooperation between Iran and the West.