Tehran, October 24: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran needs more time to consider a nuclear fuel agreement drawn up by the watchdog.
In a Friday statement, the Agency confirmed reports that Iran had asked for more time to respond to a draft fuel agreement for its civilian nuclear research facility.
“[Iran is] considering the proposal in depth and in a favorable light, but it needs until the middle of next week to provide a response,” said the IAEA statement.
“The Director General [Mohamed ElBaradei] hopes that Iran’s response will equally be positive, since approval of this agreement will signal a new era of cooperation,” it added.
Earlier on Friday, France, Russia and the United States had indicated that they had accepted the deal, which was drawn up by the Agency following the second round October talks between diplomats from Iran and the three states in Vienna.
The agreement lays out the framework for a deal whereby Iran would purchase fuel for the Tehran nuclear reactor, which produces medical radioisotopes for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures and conducts other research activities.
The reactor is currently using enriched uranium of up to 20 percent, but Tehran is close to running out of the fuel it requires.
Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz only enriches uranium up to 3.5 percent for use in nuclear power generation plants.
The Islamic Republic says if it makes the final decision to purchase the fuel from a foreign state, it would only be doing so as a confidence building measure, as it already has the technology to enrich the low-grade fuel to a higher level.
—–Agencies