"As an Iranian envoy suggested Tehran was looking to modify an international proposal to process its low enriched uranium, the State Department said it wasn't yet ready to close off the engagement track with Iran. "We have a policy of a dual track, both engagement and pressure," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said today. "We’re not going to close any door on the engagement track, but at a certain point I think we’re going to start paying a little more attention to the other track. We’re not quite at that point right now, but as I said before, I think that time is short."
Kelly's remarks came as Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was cited by an Iranian news agency saying Iran would not agree to send its low enriched uranium to be processed abroad, but would consider an exchange that took place inside the country....
Kelly suggested that to his knowledge, Iran has not actually returned a formal answer in writing on the proposal to the International Atomic Energy Agency at all. "As far as I know, the IAEA has not received a formal response," Kelly said. "Until the IAEA gets the response and formally says this is Iran’s response, I don’t consider a statement to the press necessarily a response."
While the Americans are willing to be flexible to a degree, he said, the Americans and French "red lines" remain however that the agreed amount of LEU has to leave Iran all in one batch by New Year's..."
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