Report: Iran says will reply to IAEA proposal next week
(Video) Iranian state television reports Islamic Republic 'interested in buying fuel for Tehran research reactor' rather than accept a UN-drafted plan to ship much of its uranium to Russia for further enrichment, but state's representative to IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh says to give official response to plan 'next week'
VIDEO- Iran will reply next week to a UN-drafted plan for it to cut a stockpile of nuclear fuel, Iranian state television quoted a senior official as saying on Friday. "We will give our answer to Mr. ElBaradei next week," it reported Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the IAEA, as saying.
The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog says Iran told IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei that it is "considering the proposal in depth and in a favorable light, but needs until the middle of next week to provide a response."
Iran also said it had proposed to world powers that it purchase nuclear fuel for its Tehran reactor rather than accept the proposed plan to ship much of its uranium to Russia for further enrichment, state television reported.
"Iran is interested in buying fuel for the Tehran research reactor within the framework of a clear proposal ... we are waiting for the other party's constructive and trust-building response," TV quoted a member of Iran's negotiating team as saying.
Iran was reacting to a proposal from the UN nuclear watchdog that it should ship its low-enriched uranium abroad for processing.
Iran's response will come as a disappointment to the US, Russia and France, which all endorsed the UN plan Friday.
The three countries formulated the draft plan in three days of talks with Iran in Vienna that ended Wednesday.
A US official said Friday that the United States is still awaiting Iran's formal response to the UN-drafted plan.
The official, speaking on condition that he not be identified, said Washington did not regard an Iranian state television report suggesting that Tehran would not endorse the deal as Tehran's official response to the plan, seen as one way to buy time for broader talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Before the Iranian television report, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said signs that Iran would agree to the deal on its nuclear program were "not positive."
"I do not know what the results in Vienna today are, but the signs we received (from Iran) this morning are not positive. It is a pity," Kouchner said at a news conference in Beirut after meeting senior officials.
The Associated Press and AFP contributed to this report
