The U.N. nuclear agency has brokered a proposed deal under which Iran, which denies seeking nuclear arms, would send its low-enriched uranium abroad in exchange for more highly enriched fuel to produce medical isotopes.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to send its enriched uranium abroad in exchange for nuclear fuel under the plan, which the West hopes will stop the material being used for atomic bombs.
"There is a forum to be able to resolve whether this is a serious offer and that's through the IAEA. If Iran is serious, they can inform the IAEA that they are ready to accept the deal that's on the table," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told Reuters.
Under the proposed deal hammered out in Geneva in October, Tehran would transfer 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium abroad for conversion into special fuel rods to keep a Tehran nuclear medicine reactor running.
"We are not prepared to change the deal … We are not interested in renegotiating it. If Iran wants to accept it then they should inform the IAEA," Crowley added, saying Tehran should follow through on the original deal and "give us a definitive answer." (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
