Iran gives West one-month "ultimatum" to accept its fuel proposal

TEHRAN, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran said on Saturday that it has given the West a one-month "ultimatum" to accept Tehran's own proposal on a deal for providing nuclear fuel for a reactor in the Islamic Republic, state television reported.

"We have given them (the West) an ultimatum. There is just one month left for them to decide" whether to accept Iran's proposal, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying.

"Otherwise, we will produce enriched uranium of a higher level by our own capable experts," he added.

The United States, Russia and France have agreed to a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which 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.

But Iran has rejected the West's demand for it to accept the IAEA-brokered deal by the end of 2009. Instead, Tehran has proposed a simultaneous exchange of part of its low-level enriched uranium with nuclear fuel inside Iran or in a third country.

The United States and its Western allies have been accusing Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civilian program. Iran has denied the accusation and stressed its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

The United States and its allies have threatened another round of UN sanctions against Iran if it does not abide by the year-end deadline, which Iran has been refusing to accept.