WASHINGTON/VIENNA (Agencies)
An unsettled political situation in Iran may be complicating efforts to seal a nuclear fuel deal between Tehran and major world powers, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday.
Obama told Reuters in an interview that the United States had made more progress toward global nuclear non-proliferation in the last several months than in the past several years.
"But it is going to take time, and part of the challenge that we face is that neither North Korea nor Iran seem to be settled enough politically to make quick decisions on these issues," he said at the White House.
 |
"Fair" offer to Iran " Although so far we have not seen the kind of positive response we want from Iran, we are as well positioned as we've ever been to align the international community behind that agenda " U.S. President Barack Obama Obama said the United States, along with Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France, had made a "fair" offer to Iran that would allow it to have a legitimate civilian nuclear program while allaying suspicions that it was seeking to build atomic weapons. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.
The proposal by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency calls for Iran to transfer about 75 percent of its known 1.5 metric tons of low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment by the end of this year, then to France for conversion into fuel plates for a Tehran reactor that produces radio isotopes for cancer treatment.
In talks with six world powers in Geneva on Oct. 1, Iran agreed in principle to the draft deal.
But the deal has since stalled over details and goals and Iranian suspicions that any nuclear fuel sent abroad will not be returned to them.
"Although so far we have not seen the kind of positive response we want from Iran, we are as well positioned as we've ever been to align the international community behind that agenda," Obama said. |
|
A third friendly country " But it is going to take time, and part of the challenge that we face is that neither North Korea nor Iran seem to be settled enough politically to make quick decisions on these issues " Obama Addressing Iran's misgivings over sending low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad before it gets reactor fuel in return, the U.N. nuclear agency chief has suggested Iran place the LEU in a friendly third country like Turkey, pending arrival of the fuel.
Iranian and Turkish officials discussed the idea Monday on the sidelines of an Islamic states conference in Istanbul attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Turkish officials said. They did not elaborate.
Turkey, with good ties to neighbor Iran, has said it is willing to mediate in Tehran's long standoff with Western powers over its disputed nuclear energy program.
A senior Iranian official has dismissed the idea of Iran parking its LEU in a third country.
But Tehran has yet to give a full, official reply on the proposal drafted by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei three weeks ago after consultations with Iran, France, Russia and the U.S.
Diplomats say Western powers will reconsider sanctions if there is no breakthrough with Iran by the end of the year.
A done deal on fuel supply would be a springboard to more ambitious talks on trade benefits and sanctions relief for Iran if it curbs the enrichment program as a whole. |
