Iran ready to discuss site of nuclear fuel swap: spokesman
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Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast Monday said his country is ready to discuss the place of nuclear fuel swap, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Talking to IRNA, the spokesman said Iran's position was the same as it previously announced and the country is ready to exchange nuclear fuel for Tehran reactor "in different batches."
"If the other sides have the same readiness and take primary steps to this end, then it will be time to discuss other details about setting the place of the fuel exchange as well as other related issues," Mehman-Parast was quoted as saying.
He said winning Iran's trust by other sides as well as providing necessary guarantees for the fuel exchange are major factors to lead to the exchange of nuclear fuel, according to the report.
Under a draft deal brokered by the UN nuclear watchdog, 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.
The higher-level enriched uranium will be transported back to Iran to be used in a research reactor in Tehran for the manufacture of medical radioisotopes, according to the draft.
However, Tehran rejected a Dec. 31 deadline to accept the deal.
The United States and its Western allies have been accusing Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civilian nuclear power. Iran has denied the accusation and stressed its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
