Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Saturday Tehran is ready to exchange 400 kilograms of low-enriched uranium (LEU) on Iran's Kish island for nuclear fuel. “We are prepared to take 400kg of 3.5 percent enriched uranium to the (Iranian) island of Kish and exchange it with an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the original batch,” Mottaki was quoted as saying by the state-run PressTV's website. Mottaki, who was in Manama to address a security conference, said the process could begin “right away” if the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany agree to the offer. Iran is ready to exchange the bulk of its stockpile of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods – as proposed by the UN – but according to its own mechanisms and timetable, he said. The United States bluntly dismissed the offer Saturday to swap nuclear fuel, which a senior US official said was inconsistent with a deal allowing Iran to avoid further sanctions. “Iran's proposal today does not appear to be consistent with the fair and balanced draft agreement proposed by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in consultation with the United States, Russia and France,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Mottaki's remarks come just days before an expected meeting between the US and allies to discuss new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The offer, however, falls far short of the conditions set by the international community. Mottaki said Iran agreed with a UN deal proposed in October in which up to 2,600 pounds of its uranium would be exchanged for fuel rods to power its research reactor. “We accepted the proposal in principle,” he said through a translator. “We suggested in the first phase we give you 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent enriched uranium and you give us the equivalent in 20 percent uranium.” Iran has about 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium and needs to refine to 20 percent to operate a research reactor that produces medical isotopes. Uranium enriched at low levels can be used as fuel for nuclear energy, but when enriched to 90 percent and above, it can be used as material for a weapon. The United States and five other world powers have been trying to win Iran's acceptance of a deal under which Tehran would ship most of its low-enriched uranium stockpile abroad to be processed into fuel rods, which can't be enriched further. However, after signaling in October that it would accept the proposal, Iran has since balked, giving mixed signals over the deal, including several statements from lawmakers rejecting it outright.
