WORLD> Middle East
Iran said ready for uranium exchange on its soil
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-24 17:27

TEHRAN: Iran's Foreign Ministry says the country is ready to exchange its low-enriched uranium with a higher enriched one, but only on its own soil.

Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the exchange on Iranian soil is one of the "100 percent" guarantees that the government is seeking in regard to its enriched uranium.

With the insistence on a simultaneous swap on its territory, Iran is effectively rejecting a UN-brokered plan designed to delay its ability to build a nuclear weapon.

Under the plan, Iran would export its uranium for enrichment in Russia and France where it would be converted into fuel rods, which would be returned to Iran about a year later. The rods can power reactors but cannot be readily turned into weapons-grade material.