Tehran, October 19: As nuclear discussions are set to open in Vienna, Tehran says it will continue its work to enrich uranium to the 20 percent required for its research reactor should talks fail.
“If the negotiations do not yield the desired results, we will write a letter and announce to the [International Atomic Energy] Agency (IAEA) that Iran would act directly to supply the fuel for the Tehran reactor,” state-run IRNA news agency quoted spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Shirzadian as saying on Monday.
“Iran has capabilities to enrich uranium to the 20 percent level,” he added.
Experts from Iran, France, Russia, the United States and the UN nuclear watchdog plan to hold talks in Austrian capital on Monday. Iran says it wants to discuss the terms of a deal to buy highly-enriched uranium without exchanging any of Tehran’s low-enriched uranium,
Iran’s envoy to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh will head the Iranian delegation to the Vienna talks which will focus on Tehran’s purchase of uranium enriched to 20 percent for producing radiomedicine.
At its Natanz enrichment facility, Iran currently enriches uranium to the level of under 5 percent to provide fuel for its under-construction nuclear power plants.
In response to a question about reasons behind Iran’s offer to purchase 20 percent enriched uranium from abroad, the spokesman said, “Currently, we need only 150 to 300 kilos of the fuel. It would not be economical for Tehran to act directly to supply it.”
“The United States, Russia and France along with certain other countries have so far expressed readiness to supply the 20 percent enriched uranium while Iran has no opposition to it,” Shirzadian added.
“This issue (third-party deal) is a test for the Western powers to show how honest they are in their commitments,” he said.
He dismissed claims that Iran’s offer to buy uranium from another country would be tantamount to complete shift of enrichment activities outside the country.
“These are sheer lies. Iran’s offer aims to reduce costs and interact with other countries but it never means the suspension of enrichment work inside the country,” the nuclear official said.
On October 1, Iranian representatives and diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council ; Russia, China, France, Britain and the US; plus Germany (P5+1) held high-level negotiations in Geneva.
The seven-and-a-half hour meeting, based on Iran’s package of proposals, paved the way for the sides to continue discussions on global crisis.
—–Agencies