Iran is ready to exchange its 400 kilograms low enriched uranium (up to 3.5 percent) for a 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel in Turkey, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the CNN Turkey television channel.
Iran needs 116 kilograms of a 20-percent enriched uranium for the medical research in Tehran reactor. The IAEA framework agreement adopted in late October proposed Iran to remove 1.2 tons (about 70 percent accumulated in the country) of low enriched uranium for its beneficiation in Russia up to 19,75 percent and the subsequent manufacture of nuclear fuel in France. However, Tehran refused to accept such a plan of exchange, indicating that it will only accept a phased exchange of nuclear material and on the territory of Iran.