Iran fails to endorse UN nuclear fuel deal

IRAN yesterday failed to accept a UN-drafted plan that would ship most of the country’s uranium abroad for enrichment, saying instead it would prefer to buy the nuclear fuel it needs for a research reactor.

The response will come as a disappointment to the US, Russia and France, which yesterday endorsed the UN plan they drafted in discussions with Iran earlier in the week.

The agreement was meant to ease Western fears about Iran’s potential to make a nuclear weapon. While Iran did not reject the plan outright, state TV said that Tehran was waiting for a response to its own proposal to buy nuclear fuel rather than ship low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment. Iran has often used counterproposals as a way to draw out nuclear negotiations with the West.