U.S. urges Iran to make quick response to nuclear fuel process offer

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States reiterated on Monday that Iran ought to make quick response to a UN-drafted offer on the supply of fuel for a nuclear reactor or to face fresh sanctions.

"The events of the next few days and the past few days are important for Iran to contemplate as they make decision moving forward," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"They have to essentially agree to their previous agreement on the research reactor, and I think the world is watching and waiting for their conclusive decisions on that," Gibbs said.

"If Iran fails to take steps in its control to demonstrate its responsibility to the world, sanctions may be necessary," the spokesman quoted Russian President Dimitry Medvedev as saying.

The UN-draft agreement, presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency, calls for shipping most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent.

The higher-level enriched uranium would be transported back to Iran to be used in a research reactor in Tehran for the manufacture of medical radioisotopes.