Iran discusses nuclear issue with IAEA
By IANSSunday, April 25, 2010
VIENNA - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano here to discuss issues related to Tehran’s nuclear programmes, including swapping of fuel for further enrichment.
“The meeting was held in a business-like atmosphere,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement which did not provide any further detail.
The two sides “discussed the issue of the provision of fuel for the Tehran research reactor and exchanged views on the possible modalities for its realisation”, said IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor.
Mottaki is in Vienna to gain Austria’s support to oppose any new UN sanction against Iran, Xinhua reported.
Meanwhile, Austria’s Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said Iran must cooperate with the West if it wants to avoid sanctions.
“I hope it will not have to come to this sanctions and that Iran is ready to cooperate with the international community,” Spindelegger said at a joint news conference with Mottaki.
In October, Iran agreed in principle to send low-enriched uranium abroad for further re-processing. But later it said the fuel swap should take place inside its territory and simultaneously.
The West believes Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at making atomic bombs while Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes only.
