Russia urges Iran to send uranium abroad for enrichment: report

Russia on Monday called on Iran to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment in line with an international agreement signed last year, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a foreign ministry spokesman.

"The way out of the current situation is for Iran to fulfill the agreement reached in Geneva on Oct. 1 last year, which provides for uranium for the Tehran research center to be sent abroad for full enrichment," an unidentified ministry spokesman was quoted by Interfax as saying.

The statement came after media reports that Iran had notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, of the Islamic Republic's plan to produce 20 percent enriched uranium inside the country.

Under a draft deal brokered by the IAEA, most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium should be shipped to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with the purity of 20 percent. The higher-level enriched uranium will then be transported back to Iran.

Iran has been at the center of an international dispute over its nuclear ambitions. The United States and its Western allies have been accusing Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of a civilian program. Iran has denied the accusation and stressed its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Source: Xinhua