Iran Notifies UN Nuclear Watchdog of Nuclear-Fuel Swap Plan

Iran formally notified the U.N. atomic watchdog Monday of its response to a nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil.

Iranian, Brazilian and Turkish representatives, as well as officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency, all arrived for a short 45-minute meeting with IAEA chief Yukiya Amano at his residence in central Vienna, reports Turkish Hurriet Daily News & Economic Review.

Coming out of the meeting, the Iranian official confirmed to reporters outside that he had handed over Tehran's letter.
The IAEA has been waiting for a written response from Iran ever since Tehran signed the deal, announced in Tehran on May 17, with Brazil and Turkey, both nonpermanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

Iran said it agreed to hand over about half of its enriched-uranium stockpile in exchange for fuel in a form that can be used only to run a Tehran reactor that produces medical isotopes. The swap would take place in Turkey. Russia and China backed the deal, which Iran said would be supervised by IAEA.

The IAEA itself did not immediately comment on the content of the letter.
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Iran said the fuel-exchange agreement would make it unnecessary for the U.N. Security Council to consider a fourth round of sanctions over the nuclear program proposed by the U.S. Western governments' reaction has been dismissive of the deal, which they have said fails to address international concerns.

Washington has pressed ahead with circulating a new sanctions resolution.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on May 18 that, with cooperation from Russia and China, the U.S. had created "a strong draft" of a sanctions resolution.