A more "even" Deal: Iran ready for nuclear fuel exchange

Under this 'deal' the Iranians must trust the West's good faith AND the West must trust Iran's! AFP/ here

Iran has said it is ready for a one-shot nuclear fuel exchange on its own soil, edging closer to the conditions of a plan drawn up by the UN atomic watchdog last year as major powers mulled a new round of sanctions.

Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi revealed the new offer in an interview published by hardline daily Jawan on Wednesday, signalling a major change in Tehran's longstanding position on the nuclear fuel plan first drafted last October. Chrono: Iran's nuclear fuel deal

Salehi said Iran is ready to deliver 1,200 kilogrammes (2,640 pounds) of low-enriched uranium (LEU) in one go in return for fuel for a Tehran medical research reactor, but the exchange must be inside the country. Salehi, who is also a vice president, said Iran had earlier proposed to deliver its LEU only gradually in batches of 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds).

"But this has no technical justification because those who want to produce the (20 percent enriched) fuel say that this amount has no economic justification," Salehi said. "What we are saying now is that we are ready to deliver the total amount of fuel in one go, on condition that the exchange take place inside Iran and simultaneously. "We are ready to deliver 1,200 kilos and to receive 120 kilos (264 pounds) of 20 percent enriched uranium."....

Iran's latest offer is significant as it had previously baulked at the idea of delivering 1,200 kilos of LEU in one go, insisting that it would only hand over the stocks in phases...."