Wednesday, February 10, 2010

IAEA obligated to supply nuclear fuel 
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is legally obligated to supply nuclear fuel to its members if requested.

Agencys obligation to supply (member countries with) nuclear fuel is obvious, he told reporters Tuesday during a press conference. However, he added that the IAEA should not allow certain countries to change the legal procedures in regard to Iran.

The remarks by the spokesman came as Iran started nuclear enrichment to 20 percent after the IAEA and the major powers failed to respond to Irans request for nuclear fuel to run its research reactor that produces medical isotopes.

Mehmanparast said the step is in line with Irans peaceful nuclear activities.

The IAEA member states, which have signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, have the right to enrichment and Irans decision to produce 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel falls within this category, he explained.

Asked about the pending proposal for nuclear fuel swap deal between Iran and the major powers, Mehmanparast said whenever the nuclear partners announce their readiness to provide nuclear fuel for the Tehran reactor we can make the nuclear fuel swap operational.

Irans main concern is to obtain nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor, as hospitals and patients are desperately in need of radioisotopes produced in the center, he noted.

The official said the Western political approach towards Irans medical research reactor is annoying, adding that the issue should not be used as a tool to pressure Iran.

On Monday, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, formally notified the UN body of Tehrans decision on 20 percent enrichment of its nuclear stock under the supervision of IAEA inspectors.

Earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to begin the production of higher enriched uranium for the medical reactor.

Iran officially requested the IAEA on June 2, 2009 to supply nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor. Later, Iran put forward the proposal for a simultaneous exchange of fuel in two stages on Irans soil, but Tehran has not received any official response to its logical and technical proposal yet. -