IAEA Chief: No New Iran Proposal

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said today that Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, made no new proposals to him on a possible nuclear fuel deal during a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum.

"There was not a new proposal. We exchanged views," Amano said.

Since IAEA proposed the compromise at Vienna talks last October, Iranian leaders have simultaneously accepted and rejected the deal. The latest round started on Tuesday when the Iranian president said on national TV that Iran was ready to swap its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, the centerpiece of IAEA proposal. On Friday night Iran’s foreign minister said the two sides are reaching a final agreement. Today, Iran’s powerful Majlis speaker, Ali Larijani, said Iran would not send its enriched uranium abroad, calling the proposed agreement a "political swindle" [Mehr News Agency, 6 February].

IAEA chief is now telling us that Mottaki did not give the agency any new proposal to clinch the agreement. US and European officials had earlier voiced doubt that Iran was ready to accept the IAEA proposal.

UPDATE (Sunday 7 February): President Ahmadinejad ordered Iran's Atomic Energy Organization to start production of 20% enriched uranium.