Washington Talks War Amid Iran Diplomacy

Source: PressTV

The Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff has said that the clock is now running for Iran to respond to a draft deal over the delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran.

Mike Mullen expressed concern over Iran's response to UN-backed proposal, which was first floated by the Obama administration. The offer requires Iran to send most of its domestically-enriched uranium out of the country for further refinement.

Mullen said while he supports the aforementioned offer, he would rather have plans for a military strike on Iran, whether by Israel or the United States, as a last resort.

"I grow increasingly concerned that the Iranians have been non-responsive. I've said for a long time we don't need another conflict in that part of the world," said the top US military officer.

"I'm not predicting that would happen, but I think they've got to get to a position where they are a constructive force and not a destabilizing force," he added.

Iran however has not accepted the proposal, calling for "concrete guarantees" for the return of its fuel as some Western countries' have previously failed to adhere to their nuclear commitments with regards to Tehran.

The US has refused to consider Iran's concerns and insists the draft deal is “unchangeable.”

The Islamic Republic has put forth a counter-proposal suggesting that 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent enriched uranium be taken to the Island of Kish for a simultaneous swap with an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the original batch

Iran needs the fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor that produces radioisotopes used in cancer treatment by over 200 hospitals in the country.

Washington and a number of European countries say "they have suspicions" about Iran's nuclear plans, accusing the country of attempting to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran, which is a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty unlike some of its regional neighbors, has categorically dismissed the accusations, saying its plans aim to generate electricity for a growing population.

In a Friday press conference on the sidelines of UN Climate talks in Copenhagen, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that attempts to link nuclear technology to nuclear bombs is a pretext used by certain states that wish to dominate the world.

"If we consider nuclear technology as equal to nuclear bombs, we will be depriving human beings of its [technological] benefits," said Ahmadinejad, adding that those who tie the two concepts together are countries which both "own a nuclear bomb and use nuclear energy."

Washington Rejects Iran Uranium Swap Offer

Source: PressTV

Washington has reportedly dismissed a Tehran offer to swap 400 kilograms of its low enriched uranium in the Persian Gulf island of Kish.

"Iran's proposal today does not appear to be consistent with the fair and balanced draft agreement proposed by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in consultation with the United States, Russia and France," AFP quoted an unnamed US official as saying.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Saturday said the country is ready "to take 400 Kg of 3.5 percent enriched uranium to the Island of Kish and exchange it with an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the original batch."

Mottaki added that the process would begin "right away" if the P5+1, the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany, agree to the offer.

The US official talking on condition of anonymity, however, said the offer was "nothing new." Iran should take up the existing IAEA proposal, the official added, and send 1,200 kilograms of its low enriched uranium to Russia "in one batch."

"We remain committed to these terms. Unfortunately, Iran has been unwilling to engage in further talks on its nuclear program," the official said. "We urge Iran not to squander this opportunity."

The West has been pressuring Iran to accept a UN-backed draft deal which requires Iran to send most of its domestically produced low enriched uranium (LEU) abroad to be converted into more refined fuel for the Tehran reactor that produces medical isotopes.

Iran has however called for "concrete guarantees" as some Western countries have previously failed to adhere to their nuclear commitments with regards to Tehran.

Iran's nuclear program was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program.

The then US President, Gerald Ford believed that the "introduction of nuclear power will both provide for the growing needs of Iran's economy and free remaining oil reserves for export or conversion to petrochemicals."

After the 1979 Revolution which toppled Iran's US-backed monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Western companies working on Iran's program refused to fulfill their obligations even though they had been paid in full.

Tehran and Paris had signed a deal, under which France agreed to deliver 50 tons of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) to Iran, a promise which was never fulfilled.

Despite being a 10-percent shareholder and entitled to France's Eurodif output, Paris has refused to give any enriched uranium to Iran.

In January 1978, Germany's Kraftwerk Union, which according to a 1975 contract was obliged to complete the Bushehr reactor, stopped working at the nuclear project with one reactor 50 percent complete, and the other reactor 85 percent complete.

Iran Agrees to Nuclear Swap on Kish Island

Source: PressTV

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says his country is ready to swap 400 kilograms of its low enriched uranium in the Persian Gulf Island of Kish.

"We are prepared to take 400 Kg of 3.5 percent enriched uranium to the Island of Kish and exchange it with an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the original batch," said Mottaki in a Saturday address to a security conference in Bahrain.

Mottaki added that the process would begin "right away" if the P5+1, the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - and Germany, agree to this offer.

The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that Iran would need up to 15 nuclear plants to generate the needed amount of electricity, and is prepared to negotiate with Western powers in this regard.

"From what we have found, we need at least 15 power plants to generate the required amount of 20,000 Megawatts of electricity for the next two decades," he said.

In order to keep the heat on Iran and force the country to accept a Western-backed offer on nuclear fuel supply, world powers drafted a German-sponsored resolution at the UN nuclear watchdog, demanding that Iran stop construction of its Fordo nuclear facility outside Tehran.

Floated by the Obama administration, the aforesaid fuel draft deal requires Iran to send abroad most of its LEU to be further processed and then returned to the country for use in the Tehran research reactor.

Iranian officials rejected the UN proposal, saying there are no guarantees that the country would in fact receive the fuel it requires.

Iran says it is ready to consider the offer if the nuclear swap takes place within the country's borders.

Iran's top diplomat rejected oft-stated claims that Iran's nuclear issue has reached a point of crisis, saying that Iran has always adhered to all of its contractual commitments in the past 200 years.

"This is while our Western counterparts have reneged on their promises time and again," he said.