Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed “in principle” to Brazilian mediation to revive a UN-brokered nuclear fuel-swap deal with world powers, the semi-official Fars news agency said yesterday.
The powers see the deal as a way to remove much of Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile to minimise the risk of this being used for atomic bombs, while Iran would get specially processed fuel to keep its nuclear medicine programme running. But the proposal broke down over Tehran’s insistence on doing the swap only on its territory, rather than shipping its uranium abroad in advance, and in smaller, phased amounts, meaning no meaningful cut in a stockpile.
“In a telephone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart, Ahmadinejad agreed in principle to Brazil’s mediation over the nuclear fuel deal,” Fars said.
A spokesman for Brazil’s foreign ministry said the country had not offered to mediate a fuel swap deal between Iran and the UN, but added that “this does not mean that Brazil would not do so if other countries requested it”.
Brazil has said UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme could make the country more radical, but has also warned Mr Ahmadinejad he will suffer the consequences if he seeks nuclear arms.
The pact conceived in talks conducted by the UN nuclear watchdog last October required Iran to ship 1,200kg (2,646lb) of its low-enriched uranium, enough for one atom bomb if enriched to high grade, to Russia and France for conversion into fuel for the Tehran research reactor, which makes isotopes for cancer treatment.
The US, France and Russia have ruled out rewriting the deal’s conditions as Iran demands.
The US is lobbying UN Security Council members to back a fourth round of international sanctions on Iran in the coming weeks in an attempt to press it into curbing uranium enrichment.
Iran says its nuclear energy programme is designed to generate electricity only. But its failure to declare sensitive atomic activity to the UN watchdog and continued restrictions on UN inspections have undermined confidence abroad.