There must be a guarantee for both sides that this (low-enriched uranium) will definitely be given and (highly-enriched uranium) will definitely be returned: Mottaki.

 

February 06, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iranian Foreign Minister on an official visit to Germany reiterated Iran’s willingness to go ahead with a nuclear fuel swap deal but with some minor changes made to it that should be agreed by both parties.

 

‘The most important point is the political will. Personally I feel this will is there, and I personally believe that we have created favorable conditions for such an exchange in the not very distant future " Mottaki said on the sideline of the Munich conference.  Iran’s Forign Minister also added, ‘There must be a guarantee for both sides that this (low-enriched uranium) will definitely be given and (highly-enriched uranium) will definitely be returned, this mechanism makes it possible to reach a compromise.’ Iran Press TV reported.

 

‘The best way to guarantee that all stages of the deal would be carried out according to the agreement would be for the supplier to start enriching uranium feedstock now, so that the exchange could take place simultaneously in some months' time,’ Mottaki said.

The Western powers have been pressuring Iran to send most of its domestically manufactured LEU to another country for further enrichment to be used at Tehran nuclear reactor, but they’re unwilling to provide any guarantees to actually return the higher enriched uranium without additional conditions.

 

In response to West’s tough negotiating tactics, Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani today blasted Western superfluous policies regarding nuclear swap deal with Iran. The speaker resembled such behavior as tantamount to ‘political charlatanism’ in a report published by Fars News Agency .

 

‘Westerners should know that Iranians are not gullible, and the reality is that you (the West) are after political fraud in this regard and intend to take the enriched materials out of the Iranians' hand.’ Larijani addressed a group of audience at a scientific conference in Tehran.

 

It is clear that Western powers headed by the US want to actually take away almost all of Iran’s domestically manufactured low enriched uranium and fabricate some excuses at a later stage to block the shipment from ever going back to Iran. France has in the past twice broken its own contracts to deliver peaceful uranium shipments to Iran. Western unwillingness to cooperate with Tehran was reflected in comments made by top officials today following the talks.
 
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "The reality is they've done nothing to assure the international community or to stop their progress toward (building) a nuclear weapon, and therefore various nations need to think about whether it is time for a different tack.’

 

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also commented on this issue  saying, ‘If it's not more than we heard yesterday, then we have to say unfortunately this is not a new transparency, It does not mean there is a change. That is the situation and we have to face it.’