Manila, November 19: Iran said Thursday it was open to more talks but offered no concessions after rejecting a proposal for it to send most of its stocks of low-enriched uranium abroad in return for nuclear fuel.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking to reporters at the end of an overnight visit to the Philippines, also dismissed the prospects of more sanctions even as US President Barack Obama warned of the “consequences” of Tehran’s stance.
He said Iran had broached to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei the idea of a simultaneous exchange of uranium for fuel, instead of the proposal that Iran export more than 70 percent of its stocks before receiving any nuclear fuel in return.
“We raised to Mr ElBaradei of the IAEA and the other sides the suggestion regarding the swap of the fuel, and within that framework we reviewed the swapping and exchanging of that fuel within the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the form of a straight swap,” Mottaki said.
“If they insist on this suggestion we could discuss and work within the framework.”
The UN nuclear watchdog, which has been brokering the negotiations, has already said that idea is unacceptable to the some Western powers.
Shortly after the foreign minister’s comments in Manila, Obama, who is visiting South Korea, declared that Washington and its partners were now discussing “consequences” in the form of toughened sanctions on Iran.
“Sanctions was the literature of the ’60s and the ’70s,” Mottaki retorted when asked about the prospect of more sanctions.
“Well, in the last four years they have the experience of doing so. And I think they are wise enough not to repeat failed experiences. Of course it’s totally up to them.”
Under the IAEA-brokered proposals, Iran would send out 1,200 kilograms (more than 2,640 pounds) of enriched uranium, which would then be further enriched by Russia and converted into fuel by France before being supplied to the Tehran reactor.
Meanwhile, UN inspectors were expected to visit Iran’s second uranium enrichment plant on Thursday.
The visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency team to the plant, which is being built near the Shiite holy city of Qom, was announced on Wednesday by Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.
The inspection is the second by the IAEA in less than a month. Four inspectors first visited the plant on October 25 after its disclosure by Iran to the agency.
“This site will from now on be under the IAEA. And for your information there will be tomorrow another inspection of this site in order to make sure that we are fully cooperating,” Soltanieh told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday.
Iranian officials say the construction of the plant is a message to that Tehran will never give up its uranium enrichment work and that the plant is a back-up facility in case the main enrichment plant at Natanz is bombed.
Soltanieh has said that Iran has no other enrichment plants apart from Fordo and Natanz.
Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population.
Although Iran has oil, it is still dependent on petrol imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption.
Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear weapons.
Observers say due the strong Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in the US and some European countries, these countries have taken a hypocritical stance in relation to nuclear issues in the region.
Tehran had repeatedly protested against Israeli and US war threats, warning them that it would retaliate in the event of any strike against Iran.
—Agencies