Iran is ready to deliver 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium (LEU) in one go in return for fuel for a Tehran reactor, but the exchange must be inside the country, the hardline Jawan newspaper quoted nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi as saying yesterday.
Salehi said Iran had earlier proposed to deliver its low-enriched uranium in batches of 400kg.
“But this has no technical justification because those who want to produce the [20 percent enriched] fuel say that this amount has no economic justification,” Salehi said in an interview with the newspaper.
“What we are saying now is that we are ready to deliver the total amount of fuel in one go on condition that the exchange take place inside Iran and simultaneously,” he said.
“We are ready to deliver 1,200kg and to receive 120kg of 20 percent enriched uranium.”
Iran’s latest offer is significant as it had previously baulked at the idea of delivering 1,200kg of LEU in one go as envisaged in a plan drawn up by the UN nuclear watchdog in October after talks with major powers.
Iran had said it would only hand over its LEU stocks in phases.
Officials had strongly opposed the International Atomic Energy Agency plan as they saw it as a ruse by Western powers to deprive Iran of its uranium stockpile and had put forward a rival proposal to either buy the 20 percent enriched uranium fuel on the international market or conduct a fuel swap in stages on Iranian territory.
Salehi said what was important for Iran was that the exchange of the fuel happen on its own soil and that it be given guarantees it would receive the 20 percent enriched uranium.
“When we say that the exchange has to happen inside Iran, it means the [IAEA] will take control of 1,200kg of our LEU and then seal it,” Salehi said.
He said the UN watchdog’s representatives could then “monitor it 24 hours a day and ensure that nobody broke the seal.”
“When they [the major powers] deliver the 20 percent fuel to us, they can then take the LEU out of the country,” he said.
Western governments have opposed the idea of trading the fuel inside Iran and in recent weeks have stepped up pressure for a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran with Moscow’s support.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese