Nov. 21, 09 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Mohamad Elbaradei, the IAEA outgoing chief, expressed hope that nuclear negotiations between Iran and 5+1 continue. According to El Baradei the negotiations haven’t yielded any final results yet. The chief of IAEA also warned other powers against imposition of fresh sanctions on the country.
Mr. Elbaraei asked Iran to carefully study the international nuclear fuel exchange proposal and expressed hope that the deal would eventually goes through. Iran and the Western powers have been at loggerheads over nuclear disputes for several years.
"We have not received any written response from Iran. What I got of course is an oral response, which basically said 'we need to keep all the material in Iran until we get the fuel,'" ElBaradei expressed.
"I hope to get an answer soon, within the next week or so," he added.
The idea behind the proposed nuclear fuel exchange is that Iran would be sending 1200 kg of its low enriched uranium to Russia and then France for further processing into higher enriched uranium, which will be used in Tehran small 5 megawatts research reactor. Tehran reactor produces almost all of the country’s medical radioisotopes.
The major problem with the above proposal is some Western countries, particularly France, have proven to be bad partners when it comes to nuclear fuel exchange contracts. France, for her part, has been blocking exports of nuclear fuel from its ‘Eurodif’ enrichment centre to Iran since more than a decade.
Iranian officials, however, have shown their goodwill by saying they might consider the proposal upon some modifications to the formula. But they flatly rejected any exchange of fuel to take place outside the country.
"We got a positive response from the Russians and the Americans and the French who also said that they are ready to help and that, I thought, is a unique opportunity to move from sanctions and confrontation to the process of building confidence and trust," the outgoing head of the UN nuclear watchdog said.
"I would hate to see that we are moving back to sanctions," ElBaradei said.
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