If the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provides Iran with 20-percent enriched uranium, the country will abandon uranium enrichment, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.
Earlier in November 2009, IAEA former Secretary Mohammad Al Baradei proposed to Iran to transmit 1,200 kg of 3, 5-percent enriched uranium to Russia and receive 20-percent enriched uranium from France to provide fuel for the Tehran nuclear reactor.
"Iran needs nuclear fuel. If the Tehran reactor has a problem in its work, then 850,000 people would be sick without medication, so we are forced by any possible means to enrich uranium to 20-percent level," he said.
Iran started enriching uranium up to 20 percent in the Natanz nuclear plant today, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.
The U.S. and other Western countries accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons for military purposes under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charges, saying that its nuclear program is aimed solely at meeting the country's electricity needs.
