Iran's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh will on Monday meet the agency's head, Yukiya Amano to formally appraise him about the trilateral nuclear swap deal that Tehran has signed with Turkey and Brazil.
Iran's state-run Press TV quoted a statement by Iran's Supreme National Security Council as saying that Tehran has informed the IAEA of its readiness to notify the agency about the May 17 nuclear fuel swap declaration.
The statement added that Mr. Amano has set May 24 as the date for his meeting with Mr. Soltanieh. Representatives of Brazil and Turkey will accompany Mr. Soltanieh for this meeting.
Following the notification, and assuming a positive response from the Vienna group comprising the United States, Russia, France and the IAEA “further details of the exchange will be elaborated on through a written agreement and proper arrangement between Iran and the Vienna Group,” the Tehran declaration said.
The United States has so far reacted frostily to the Tehran declaration, and has specifically cited its discomfort with Iran's decision to continue with 20 per cent uranium enrichment on its own to meet the demands of its medical reactor, involved in producing isotopes to treat cancer patients. But on Thursday, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's atomic energy establishment said that Iran would prefer importing medium level enriched uranium for its Tehran facility, rather than producing the material on its own. “We will be able to produce fuel rods in the future,” Mr. Salehi said, but added that Iran preferred “to import our necessary nuclear fuel.” Monday's swap agreement envisages transfer to Turkey, Iran's 1,200 kg stockpile of domestically produced uranium, which has been enriched lightly. In return, Iran will receive 120 kg of nuclear fuel for its Tehran atomic facility.
