Vienna, Oct 23 (DPA) Diplomats from Russia, France and the US were set Friday afternoon to jointly submit their formal approvals of a deal to process Iran’s nuclear fuel abroad, a diplomat of one of the countries said.
It was not immediately clear when Iran would provide its answer to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, which has drafted the plan to ship most of Iran’s enriched uranium to Russia to turn it into fuel for a medical reactor in Tehran.
“We agree to these proposals and hope that not only Iran, but also all other participants in the negotiations will confirm their readiness to implement the planned course of action,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow, according to the Interfax news agency.
He was referring to France and the US, which have already publicly expressed their agreement.
A French foreign ministry spokesman confirmed Thursday that his country stands ready to take the material processed in Russia and turn it into actual fuel elements for Iran.
France is one of the few countries with this technical capability.
The Western countries involved have described the possible agreement as an important confidence-building measure, because it would reduce the likelihood for Iran to use the uranium for nuclear weapons. Iran denies it has any such military intentions.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei set a Friday deadline to his draft agreement that was the product of two and a half days of talks among the four countries earlier this week in Vienna.
The permanent UN Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US, as well as Germany, are set to hold a new round of wider-ranging nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva next week.
