Iran ready for next round of talks with major powers: envoy

TEHRAN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's envoy to the international nuclear watchdog said Monday Iran is ready to take part in the next round of talks with world powers over the fuel provision for a Tehran research reactor, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran made clear its legitimate demand for the fuel in a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief on June 2, Ali Asghar Soltanieh told the IRNA in Vienna.

Tehran said the Tehran research reactor needs the fuel to produce radioisotope for medical treatment of patients suffering from cancer, according to Soltanieh.

The IAEA is obliged to carry out its task based on Clause 1 and2 of its Charter and "We are ready to purchase our required fuel under supervision of IAEA in the same method that we purchased it from Argentina 30 years ago," he was quoted as saying.

This is another chance for the IAEA to prove its goodwill, he added.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Monday that Iran will consider the enrichment of high-grade uranium in its own country if the talks with six world powers fail.

Under a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal, Iran should ship out most of its existing low-grade enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment and then to France where it would be processed into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent.

Iran has sent an oral indication to the IAEA asking for amendment of the draft agreement. The details of the amendment have not been made public yet.