Hans Blix: Iran has reason to produce nuclear fuel to 20%

Hans Blix, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says Iran has "a reason to produce" nuclear fuel to a purity of 20 percent to power its nuclear research reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes, MehrNews reported.

The former IAEA chief said the West must supply nuclear fuel to the reactor.

"If we don't supply them with the fuel, Iran has a reason to produce it itself," Blix told the German magazine Spiegel posted on its website on Monday.

Blix, who was the IAEA chief from 1981 to 1997, said the United States which had built the research reactor in Tehran refused to deliver fuel to the reactor after the Islamic Revolution despite the fact that Iran "had ordered nuclear fuel and had even paid for it."

The day before Iran started enriching uranium to a higher degree to run the Tehran research reactor, Iran stated that the door was still open for a nuclear fuel swap.

The former Swedish foreign minister also said, "I don't think the Iranians perceive Israel as a threat."