Tehran is ready to negotiate on nuclear issues with the EU’s High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine
Ashton, said a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin
Mekhimanparast, Vzgliad reports.
He spoke about the possibility of a meeting of Ashton with Iran's main
nuclear negotiator, the secretary of the High Council for National
Security, Said Jalili.
Iran insists that nuclear fuel exchange (for Tehran’s research
reactor) should be carried out on the territory of Iran, and no other
country.
Mekhmanparast also reported that within the framework of
Turkish-Brazilian negotiations they managed to come up with the terms
for such an exchange, although the place of such an exchange is still
unknown.
Ashton said on Monday that there could be new international sanctions
against Iran in the near future, but that the EU is open to additional
negotiations with Iran.
Iran needs 116 kg of uranium enriched to 19.75% for the research
reactor, used for medical purposes. In October last year the
International Atomic Energy Agency proposed taking 1.2 tons
(approximately 70%) of Iran's low-enriched uranium to enrich it in
Russia and produce nuclear fuel in France. Tehran refused such a
scheme, insisting that an exchange should only take place in Iran,
proposing the Island of Kish, in the Persian Gulf, as the place of
exchange.
