IRAN AGREES A DEAL TO SEND URANIUM ABROAD FOR ENRICHMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 17, 2010 – 14:40 AMT 09:40 GMT

Iran has agreed a deal to send uranium abroad for enrichment after
mediation talks with Turkish and Brazilian leaders, BBC reports.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it was ready to ship 1,200kg of
low-enriched uranium to Turkey, in return for nuclear fuel for a
research reactor.

The plan could revive a UN-backed proposal and may ward off another
round of sanctions.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling on world leaders for
new talks. He said it was time for talks "with Iran based on honesty,
justice and mutual respect".

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazil’s President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were
at the talks in Tehran.

"Turkey will be the place to keep Iran’s 3.5% [low-enriched] uranium,"
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news
briefing after the deal was signed.

He said that 1,200kg would be exchanged and that Iran would notify
the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency,
"within a week".