Iran rejects U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Senior Iranian lawmakers made clear on Saturday they opposed a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal, casting further doubt on the proposal aimed at easing international tension over Tehran's atomic activity.



Under the U.S.-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 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," said MP Kazem Jalali, spokesman of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee.



His comment was echoed by the head of the committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi. "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 Boroujerdi 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," he added.



On Friday, diplomats said Iran had told the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, it wants fresh fuel for the Tehran reactor before it will agree to ship most of its enriched uranium stocks to Russia and France.



In what the IAEA has described as an initial response to the proposal the Vienna-based agency drafted, Western diplomats said that major Western powers found the Iranian demand for immediate access to fresh atomic fuel unacceptable.



Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and has refused to halt it, while Western powers fear Iran is covertly developing atomic weapons, Reuters reports.