US willing to give Iran time to decide on nuclear fuel deal
Updated: Monday, November 09, 2009
Photographer: WashingtonTV
US-Iran
12:10GMT—7:10AM/EST
Washington, 9 November (WashingtonTV)—The United States is willing to give Iran time to decide on a United Nations-brokered nuclear fuel deal, Washington’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] said on Monday.
“We are in extra innings on these negotiations. We want to give Iran some space. It’s a tough decision,” Glyn Davies told reporters in Vienna, according to AFP.
His comments come amid mounting skepticism that Iran would accept the proposal, presented last month after talks between Iran, France, Russia and the United States.
Under the draft deal, Iran would ship most of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing, to be used in a research reactor in Tehran.
IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that a question of timing is the top issue delaying the deal.
Iran wants to ship out some of its uranium and simultaneously get back more enriched material, ElBaradei told CNN.
Tehran wants “guarantees” and is concerned about trust, he added.
Davies said that the U.S. was “hoping for an early positive answer” from Iran, reports Reuters.
“Iran has the opportunity to embrace this deal, and it's a very good, very positive … and fair deal. It would do much to move this process forward,” he added.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported today that Iran has proposed that the IAEA take custody of its uranium, but keep it on Iran’s Kish Island in the Persian Gulf.
Sources: Agence France-Presse, CNN News, Reuters, New York Times
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