Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed on a scheme of nuclear fuel swap, but some details are still to be coordinated, the Iranian foreign minister said on Saturday.
"The most important thing is that both sides recognize the fuel swap formula," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
He said that the date, location and amount of the swap are still to be approved.
Under a plan drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last October, the Islamic Republic was supposed to ship out its low-enriched uranium to Russia, where it would be enriched and then sent to France where it would be made into fuel rods for an Iranian reactor.
Tehran rejected the proposal and suggested it could consider a simultaneous swap of its low-enriched uranium for 20%-enriched uranium, but that the exchange should be simultaneous and would have to take place on its own territory.
The top Iranian diplomat also said that Iran "agrees to wait until everything is ready and we can swap 3.5% uranium for 20% uranium." The enrichment process is to take five or six months, he said.
He did not disclose which state would process fuel for Iran, but said the "enrichment would be carried out under the supervision of the IAEA."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in his turn, expressed hope that the scheme would be implemented.
Iran may face a fourth set of Security Council sanctions over its uranium enrichment activities, which Western powers fear are aimed at building nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is designed for peaceful power generation.
MUNICH, February 6 (RIA Novosti)
