.
Diplomacy works …
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran declined to say if it would endorse the plan, which Western diplomats said would require Tehran to send 1.2 tons of its known 1.5-tonne reserve of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia and France by the end of the year. The material would be converted into fuel for a nuclear medicine facility in Tehran.
The United States voiced its support for the proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the enriched uranium with a higher purity needed for research reactor in Iran would be produced abroad.
“We greatly appreciate IAEA Director General ElBaradei‘s skillful efforts and dedication to pursue this initiative of getting Iran to send out their low-enriched uranium to third countries,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a news briefing.
“We think that the draft agreement presented by him (ElBaradei) in Vienna was a very positive step,” said Kelly when he was asked to comment on the nuclear-fuel talks held in Vienna among the United States, Russia, France and Iran.
“It was a good effort by the director general. And we support it. And we expect by Friday to be able to say that we approve it,” Kelly said.
IAEA proposal to be signed off by capitals before weekend. (Earth Times)
Soltanieh said the U.S. played a key role in this week’s talks, which officials said focused on hammering out details of the proposal.
“Iran and the United States discussed technical cooperation about procurement of equipment for the Tehran [research] reactor under the aegis of IAEA,” he told Iran’s Fars news agency. “The U.S. agreed in principle to cooperate” with Iran.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
