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Iran leader welcomes nuclear plan

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said conditions were ripe for nuclear cooperation with major powers as the atomic watchdog received Tehran’s response to a UN-brokered plan.

Breaking with his usual hardline rhetoric, Ahmadinejad on Thursday hailed what he said was a change in Western policy from “confrontation to cooperation” that had made cooperation possible over Iran’s nuclear program.

“We welcome fuel exchange, nuclear cooperation, building of power plants and reactors and we are ready to cooperate,” he said in a speech broadcast live on state TV.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had received a response from Iran to the plan, without detailing its contents.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei had “received an initial response from the Iranian authorities to his proposal to use Iran’s low-enriched uranium for manufacturing fuel for ... the Tehran Research Reactor, which is devoted mainly to producing radioisotopes for medical purposes,” the watchdog said.

ElBaradei was “engaged in consultations with the government of Iran as well as all relevant parties, with the hope that agreement on his proposal can be reached soon.”

The US, however, said later on Thursday it was still awaiting a “formal” reply from the Islamic republic.

“We need to hear a formal response from Iran ... We’ll see what kind of clarifications we get,” said US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, adding there was “complete unity” among the IAEA, the US, Russia and France — the four parties negotiating with Tehran.

Iranian media said earlier Tehran was seeking some changes to the fuel supply proposals, while the country’s envoy to the IAEA said he expected to be involved in further negotiations.

Ahmadinejad insisted his government, for so long on a collision course with the West over its refusal to heed repeated UN Security Council ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment, was keen to strike a deal.

Meanwhile, the US Senate Banking Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping package of economic sanctions aimed at Iran, one of many efforts by lawmakers to compel Tehran to freeze its suspect nuclear program.

The panel, led by Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, voted 23-0 to pass the legislation, which notably targets firms that help the Islamic republic obtain refined petroleum products like gasoline.

On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation enabling US President Barack Obama to slap sanctions on firms involved in shipping refined petroleum products to Iran or helping the country’s domestic refining efforts.

The banking committee’s legislation would notably close US markets to Iranian carpets, caviar and pistachio nuts — which former US president Bill Clinton exempted from a US trade embargo in an olive branch to Tehran.

It also requires that the president report to congress when non-US companies become eligible for sanctions, under a 1996 law that punishes investments of more than US$20 million in Iran’s energy sector.

Iran lacks refining capability and relies on imports to satisfy 40 percent of its thirst for gasoline. Iran gets most of its gasoline imports from the Swiss firm Vitol, the Swiss/Dutch firm Trafigura, France’s Total, the Swiss firm Glencore and British Petroleum, as well as the Indian firm Reliance.
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