(Fars News Agency) - A prominent Iranian MP Sunday dismissed a recent proposal raised by Saudi officials for the establishment of a consortium to enrich uranium for Iran and other regional countries, saying that the Islamic Republic does not need to supply nuclear fuel from another country.
Member of the parliament's majority fraction Elyas Naderan told FNA that Iran has now developed the required technology for producing nuclear fuel, "and thus, we don't need to supply enriched uranium from anywhere else, specially considering that we have uranium reserves inside the country."
"Of course, as the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced, we are ready to form uranium enrichment consortiums with volunteer countries, just the same way we pioneered in founding the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and formed an oil consortium to reorganize the oil market," he added.
Member of the parliament's economic commission further voiced Tehran's preparedness to form nuclear consortiums with such Middle-Eastern countries as Saudi Arabia inside Iran to help them expand their nuclear science and activities.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has already gained access to the technical know-how for producing nuclear fuel and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Iran has started manufacture of P2 centrifuges, he said.
"Given its huge underground (uranium) reserves, Iran can supply fuel to the nuclear power plants of its neighbors," the legislator continued.
He further described the Saudi offer as a joke, saying, "Asking Iran to stop uranium enrichment inside the country is like demanding Saudi Arabia to transfer its extracted oil to Iran through a pipeline to export it from Iran."
"If Saudi Arabia accepts such a proposal, then we can think about their offer too," the lawmaker said.