Diplomat says Iran deal flawed

Uranium agreement with Turkey called technically impossible.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFF
Ahmadinejad, Erdogan, Da Silva et al (photo credit: Associated Press)
Ahmadinejad, Erdogan, Da Silva et al
(photo credit: Associated Press)
A Western diplomat speaking anonymously has referred to the proposed uranium fuel agreement between Iran, Turkey and Brazil as technically flawed.
AFP is reporting that the diplomat said, "Getting this fuel in one year is impossible. It takes at least one and a half years to have this." He added, "There is something tricky there, but we will see in a year. It is still too early."
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The anonymous diplomat's comments came after Iran formally submitted the fuel swap deal to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday.
Seeking to evade new UN sanctions, Iran submitted its plan on Monday to swap some of its enriched uranium for reactor fuel and said the onus was on world powers to defuse tensions by accepting the deal.
The proposal, which was shared with The Associated Press, did not go beyond generalities already outlined last week. Thus, it was unlikely to deter the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — the five permanent UN Security Council members — which have agreed on a draft fourth set of sanctions against Iran for refusing to give up uranium enrichment.
The deal would commit Iran to ship 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium to Turkey, where it would be stored. In exchange, Iran would receive, within one year, higher-enriched fuel rods to be used in a US-built medical research reactor.