Iran's letter to IAEA says ready for simultaneous fuel swap within territory
TEHRAN. February 24. KAZINFORM. Iran's new letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was ready for a simultaneous fuel swap within its territory, Iran's English- language satellite channel Press TV reported Tuesday; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
"Iran is still ready to purchase the fuel it needs for Tehran's research reactor," Iran's representative to the IAEA Ali Soltanieh said in a letter to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, adding that the agency should fulfill its duty and "facilitate the delivery of the fuel."
However, "Iran is ready to simultaneously exchange the fuel required for the Tehran research reactor with its low-enriched uranium within Iranian territory if the IAEA lacks the ability to fulfill its duties," Soltanieh said in the letter.
According to the official IRNA news agency, the letter was dated on Feb. 18 and has been published on IAEA's official website for information of its member states and circulated among IAEA Board of Governors upon Iran's request.
In the letter, Iran also asked the IAEA secretary general to inform the entire potential providers of nuclear fuel of the matter and to let Iran know about the result.
Under a draft deal brokered by the IAEA in October, most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium should be shipped to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with the purity of 20 percent; Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.news.xinhuanet.com for full version.