Iran welcomes nuclear talks, but ignores West's offers

A senior Iranian official has said that Tehran still wants talks with world powers over fuel supplies to its nuclear reactor - despite the country's apparent rejection of a United Nations plan to curb Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.

The New York Times reported on Monday that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has told Iran it is willing to allow the country to send its stockpile of enriched uranium to any of several nations, including Turkey, for safekeeping.

However, Iran seems to have ignored all of these proposals offered over the last two weeks.

The paper cited a senior Obama administration official as saying that Iran had rejected the proposal on the grounds that keeping nuclear material on its own territory would give it more control over inspections.

A U.S. diplomat said on Monday that Washington was willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept the UN draft deal that is meant to defuse nuclear tensions with world powers.

The proposal for Iran to part with stocks of potential nuclear explosive material in exchange for fuel to keep a nuclear medicine facility running has stumbled on Iranian calls for amendments, but Iran has not rejected it outright.

Addressing Iran's misgivings over sending low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad before it receives reactor fuel in return, the UN nuclear agency chief has suggested Iran place the LEU in a friendly third country pending arrival of the fuel.

A senior Iranian official rejected the idea at the weekend.

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 United States.

"There have been communications back and forth. We are in extra innings in these negotiations. That's sometimes the way these things go," said Glyn Davies, U.S. ambassador to the IAEA.

"We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, quite obviously, and we're hoping for an early positive answer from the Iranians."

"Iran has the opportunity to embrace this deal, and it's a very good, very positive...and fair deal. It would do much to move this process forward," Davies said in Vienna.

"When the reactor's fuel run out next year, we would help to keep it going. There are hospitals, doctors, cancer patients who rely on the material produced there. We know the leadership in Tehran needs to keep the reactor going. We would like to help with that effort," he said.

Iranwelcomes nuclear talks

Meanwhile, Iranian top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said late Sunday that Tehran welcomes talks on the nuclear issue with the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany. Jalili spoke during a meeting with visiting Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, according to Iran's state television.

Russia is part of the UN effort to ensure Iran doesn't use its nuclear program for weapons-making purposes, as the West fears. Moscow has warned it could back new sanctions against Iran if it fails to take a constructive stance in the nuclear talks.

A UN-brokered plan in October required Tehran to send 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms) - around 70 percent of its stockpile - of low-enriched uranium to Russia in one batch by the end of the year for further enrichment, a move that would ease international concerns the material could be processed for a bomb.

According to the UN plan, after further enrichment in Russia, France would convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes. Fuel rods cannot be further enriched into weapons-grade material.

Iran, which says its nuclear work is peaceful, has not yet given a final response to the UN proposal, and has come up instead with its own request to buy nuclear fuel from abroad. Iranian officials and lawmakers have hardened their stance toward the UN plan in recent comments, adding to the pressure on the government to altogether reject the draft.

In addition, Teheran has indicated it may agree to send only part of its stockpile in several shipments abroad and has threatened to - should the talks with world powers fail to help Iran obtain the fuel from abroad - enrich uranium to the higher level needed to power the research reactor domestically.

The back-and-forth has left the nuclear talks in limbo.

On his visit to Tehran, Ryabkov expressed hope the talks would be concluded soon.

Tehran still welcomes the talks based on its package of proposals, Jalili said, referring to the Iranian counteroffer.

The United States and its allies are unlikely to accept anything substantially less than the original U.N. plan.

But an American envoy at the UN nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna said the West is prepared to wait for a definitive Iranian response.

Tehran needs time - it has it, and we are hoping for a positive answer, said Glynn Davies, the chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

We hope Tehran seizes this opportunity and finds a better way forward into the future, Davies added.