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IAEA receives Iran's response to nuclear fuel deal

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-30 14:20

VIENNA: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on Thursday that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei had received an initial response from Iran to his proposal on Iranian nuclear fuel.

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According to the IAEA press center, "the Director General is engaged in consultations with the government of Iran as well as all relevant parties, with the hope that agreement on his proposal can be reached soon."

The talks on Iran's nuclear fuel between the United States, Russia, France and Iran ended on October 21 in Vienna without a final agreement.

In order to break the deadlock, ElBaradei made a proposal to supply Iran with nuclear fuel for its research reactor. The draft agreement calls for shipping most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent.

The higher-level enriched uranium would be transported back to Iran to be used in a research reactor in Tehran for the production of medical radioisotopes.

All relevant parties were required to reply to this proposal before October 23. The United States, Russia, and France have all made positive responses.

Iran said on Tuesday it would accept the framework of the nuclear deal but wanted significant changes to it.