In an attempt to break the impasse on Iran's nuclear program, Germany has proposed building a uranium enrichment facility run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Building an enrichment plant overseen by the UN nuclear watchdog "is to ensure that all interested states have access to nuclear fuel for energy generation, while reducing the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in an interview on Thursday with German ARD TV network.

In a more detailed deliberation of his proposal, Steimeier said in an interview with German business daily Handelsblatt on Wednesday that the IAEA-run facility could be built at "a location acceptable to all sides," with the host nation surrendering sovereign rights, a formula similar to the seat of the United Nations in New York.

He added that if such a project were feasible, the IAEA could be charged with the task of deciding which country would have access to the enriched nuclear materials based on criteria that would exclude abuse.

Steinmeier has put his proposal to the IAEA as some 130 signatory countries to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferatin Treaty started meetings in Vienna on Tuesday to prepare for a review of the treaty in 2010.

Source: Xinhua