IRAN REJECTS U.N.-DRAFTED NUCLEAR FUEL DEAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.10.2009 13:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Senior Iranian lawmakers made clear on Saturday
they opposed a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal, casting further doubt
on the proposal aimed at easing international tension over Tehran’s
atomic activity.

Under the U.S.-backed plan, Iran would send most of its low-enriched
uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing to turn it into more
refined fuel for a Tehran research reactor.

"The demand that we should deliver all enriched nuclear material
to other countries so that they would supply Tehran’s fuel needs is
completely out of the question," said MP Kazem Jalali, spokesman of
parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee.

His comment was echoed by the head of the committee, Alaeddin
Boroujerdi. "We are completely opposed to the proposal on delivering
uranium with 3.5 percent enrichment in exchange for uranium with 20
percent enrichment," ISNA news agency quoted Boroujerdi as saying.

"There is no guarantee they would give us fuel with 20 percent
enrichment in exchange for our delivered LEU. We have deep mistrust
in relation to the Westerners," he added.

On Friday, diplomats said Iran had told the U.N. nuclear watchdog,
the International Atomic Energy Agency, it wants fresh fuel for the
Tehran reactor before it will agree to ship most of its enriched
uranium stocks to Russia and France.

In what the IAEA has described as an initial response to the proposal
the Vienna-based agency drafted, Western diplomats said that major
Western powers found the Iranian demand for immediate access to fresh
atomic fuel unacceptable.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and has refused to
halt it, while Western powers fear Iran is covertly developing atomic
weapons, Reuters reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress