Senior Iranian lawmakers voiced opposition Saturday to a UN-drafted nuclear fuel deal, casting further doubt on a proposal aimed at easing international tension over Tehran's atomic activities. Under the US-backed plan, Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing to turn it into more refined fuel for a Tehran research reactor. The West's priority is to reduce Iran's LEU stockpile to prevent any danger that Tehran might turn it into the highly enriched uranium needed for a nuclear bomb. But politicians in Iran, which says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive to produce electricity, have voiced deep misgivings about the idea of parting with the bulk of what is seen as a strategic asset and a strong bargaining chip. Several MPs have said Iran should buy the reactor fuel it needs rather than send its own uranium out of the country. “The demand that we should deliver all enriched nuclear material to other countries so that they would supply Tehran's fuel needs is completely out of the question,” ILNA news agency quoted MP Kazem Jalali as saying. He is the spokesman of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee. The committee's head Alaeddin Boroujerdi echoed that view. “We are completely opposed to the proposal on delivering uranium with 3.5 percent enrichment in exchange for uranium with 20 percent enrichment,” ISNA news agency quoted him as saying. “There is no guarantee they would give us fuel with 20 percent enrichment in exchange for our delivered LEU. We have deep mistrust in relation to the Westerners,” Boroujerdi added. On Friday, diplomats said Iran had told the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it wants fresh fuel for the Tehran reactor before it will agree to ship most of its enriched uranium stocks to Russia and France. Western diplomats said that major Western powers found the Iranian demand for immediate access to atomic fuel unacceptable. The diplomats said Iran has yet to give a formal response to the plan but has leaked demands for major changes that could unravel the tentative pact. The IAEA proposal calls for Iran to transfer about 75 percent of its known 1.5 metric tons of LEU to Russia for further enrichment by the end of this year. The material would then be shipped to France for conversion into fuel plates for the Tehran reactor that produces radio isotopes for cancer treatment. Iranian media reported that Tehran also wants the LEU to be shipped out in small, staggered portions – not all in one go. The reported conditions would undo key aspects of the deal for big powers aiming to minimize any bomb-making potential. Mark Fitzpatrick, senior non-proliferation fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, described it as a “politically treacherous” issue for Iran. “They (the leadership) find it hard to strike any deal with the West even though this is an obviously good deal for them,” he told Reuters. “It's stalling but it is not just tactical stalling. There is real domestic turmoil in Iran.” The West has warned Iran risks a fourth round of sanctions if it fails to help defuse concerns about its atomic programme. It wants Iran to suspend enrichment in return for trade and other economic incentives – a demand Tehran rejects. Iranian MP Heshmatollah Falahat-pisheh said Iran should not bow to outside pressure over its nuclear program. “We have to be very careful towards the agency's proposals so that we would not fall in the European diplomacy's trap that would suspend our nuclear activities,” he said, ILNA reported.
