Tehran/Vienna - Tehran on Thursday replied to a proposal for a multinational nuclear fuel deal that was negotiated last week in Vienna, saying Iran's stance was positive but that changes to the deal are needed. Here are the outlines of the proposal drafted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that is meant to create confidence in Iran's nuclear intentions.
Q: What are the outlines of this nuclear fuel deal?
A: Under the plan, Iran would ship most of its low-enriched uranium abroad, so that it could be processed into fuel to power a reactor in Tehran. This reactor makes nuclear material for cancer treatment and other scientific purposes.
Q: Where would the uranium be shipped?
A: First to Russia, where the enrichment level would be raised from below 5 to 20 per cent. In a plant in Natanz, Iran enriches uranium only to a level of around 5 per cent content of uranium-235, an isotope necessary for nuclear chain reactions. But the Tehran Research Reactor needs 20-per-cent-enriched uranium to run. France has offered to take the material from Russia and turn it into actual fuel elements, before sending it back to Iran.
Q: Why would this be a confidence-building measure?
A: Several countries are concerned that Iran could take its low- enriched uranium, enrich it to levels of 80 per cent or above, and use it in a nuclear bomb. The deal would significantly reduce Iran's stockpile of this 5-per-cent material, which amounted to 1,508 kilogrammes in late July, by turning 1,200 kilogrammes of it into 116 kilogrammes of reactor fuel. It would be technically very difficult to make a bomb out of the fuel elements.
Q: Apart from confidence-building, why does Iran not enrich up to 20 per cent itself?
A: Iran claims to have the know-how to do the 20 per cent uranium enrichment by itself but there is no independent proof that the Natanz enrichment plant could carry out this process.
Q: What would this deal mean for Iran's talks with world powers?
A: Diplomats said the reduction of Iran's uranium stock would create a window of opportunity for wider-ranging talks with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. In a period of roughly 12 months, the uranium would be processed abroad, while Iran would replenish its stock by continuing to run the plant in Natanz.
Q: What changes might Iran seek to the deal?
A: Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Iran would seek "important technical and economical amendments." Iranian officials have indicated that instead of having all the 1,200 kilogrammes enriched in Russia, Tehran might want to ship out less and and simply buy some fuel abroad. Another demand might be to ship out the uranium not all at once but in phases, to reassure Iran that the other parties fulfill their commitments.
Q: Why did Iran take so long to respond to the proposal?
A: Iran says the uranium exchange deal was a general idea whose details had to be worked out. For Iran, providing most of its enriched uranium would delay its long-term programme to eventually produce its own nuclear fuel for reactors. It also seems that the initial idea had not been fully approved by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state affairs, including the nuclear issue.
Q: Who are the other signatories to the deal?
A: Russia, the US, France and the IAEA. The three countries have submitted their approval of the deal to the IAEA last Friday.
Q: What is the role of the US?
A: As far as is known, the US has no technical role, but IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told French magazine L'Express that the engagement of US and Iran is a sign that both are "trying to start healing the wounds." ElBaradei said Washington offered to help Iran "in many different ways" if the deal goes through, and Ambassador Soltanieh said this help was related to getting technical and safety equipment for the reactor. The US was the country that supplied the reactor in 1967, before relations were broken off after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
