TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister said Monday that Tehran may agree to ship part of its stockpile of low enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment, the first official indication that Iran could at least partly sign onto a U.N.-drafted plan aimed at easing nuclear tensions.
The plan is seen by the international community as a way to delay Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon by getting a large part of its enriched uranium stock out of the country, preventing it from being reworked into a warhead. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran's final decision over the plan will "will be made in the next few days."
As an alternative to the U.N. plan, Mottaki said Iran was weighing whether to buy enriched uranium abroad and keep its own supply. The fuel is needed for a research reactor that makes medical isotopes.
"To supply fuel, we may purchase it like in the past, or we may deliver part of (the low enriched uranium) fuel which we currently don't need," Mottaki said.
csmonitor.com | Scott Peterson | Posted 11.10.2009 | World