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TEHRAN : Iran is ready to deliver 1,200 kilogrammes of low-enriched uranium in one go in return for fuel for a Tehran reactor but the exchange must be inside the country, the hardline Jawan newspaper quoted nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi as saying on Wednesday.
Salehi said Iran had earlier proposed to deliver its low-enriched uranium (LEU) in batches of 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds).
"But this has no technical justification because those who want to produce the (20 percent enriched) fuel say that this amount has no economic justification," Salehi said in an interview with the newspaper.
"What we are saying now is that we are ready to deliver the total amount of fuel in one go on condition that the exchange take place inside Iran and simultaneously.
"We are ready to deliver 1,200 kilos (2,640 pounds) and to receive 120 kilos (264 pounds) of 20 percent enriched uranium."
Iran's latest offer is significant as it had previously baulked at the idea of delivering 1,200 kilos of LEU in one go as envisaged in a plan drawn up by the UN nuclear watchdog last October after talks with major powers.
Iran had said it would only hand over its LEU stocks in phases.
Officials had strongly opposed the IAEA plan as they saw it as a ruse by Western powers to deprive Iran of its uranium stockpile, and had put forward a rival proposal to either buy the 20 percent enriched uranium fuel on the international market or conduct a fuel swap in stages on Iranian territory.
Salehi said what was important for Iran was that the exchange of the fuel happen on its own soil and that it be given guarantees it would receive the 20 percent enriched uranium.
"When we say that the exchange has to happen inside Iran, it means the (International Atomic Energy) Agency will take control of 1,200 kilos of our LEU and then seal it," Salehi said.
He said the UN watchdog's representatives could then "monitor it 24 hours a day and ensure that nobody broke the seal".
"When they (the major powers) deliver the 20 percent fuel to us, they can then take the LEU out of the country."
Western governments have opposed the idea of exchanging the fuel inside Iran and in recent weeks have stepped up pressure for a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran with Moscow's support.
Under the plan drawn up by the IAEA, Russia would have produced the 20 percent enriched uranium, which would have then been converted into fuel by France.
- AFP/vm
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