December 12, 2009 - BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country was willing to exchange most of its uranium for processed nuclear fuel from abroad — as the United Nations has proposed — but only according to a timetable that Western powers appear to have already rejected.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki of Iran spoke at a regional security conference in Bahrain about Iran’s nuclear plans.
The statement by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki came just days before a scheduled meeting of the United States and its allies to discuss possible new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program — and may be aimed at trying to divide them, analysts said.
Mr. Mottaki said Iran would agree to hand over 400 kilograms, or 882 pounds, of uranium initially — about a third of the amount proposed in a draft agreement reached under United Nations auspices in October — in exchange for an equivalent amount of enriched material to fuel a medical research reactor, according to Iranian news agencies.
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