Six powers regret Iran stance

Berlin: Senior officials from six world powers expressed disappointment yesterday that Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential ability to make nuclear bombs, and urged Tehran to reconsider.

Iran has rejected a deal under which it would send enriched uranium abroad for rendering into fuel for medical purposes in Tehran.

"We are disappointed by the lack of follow-up on the three understandings [in the proposed deal]," said senior European Union official Robert Cooper after a meeting of officials from Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia and China.

The International Atomic Energy Agency had brokered a plan under which Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, but Tehran on Wednesday rejected the proposal.

Under the initiative, Iran was given the option of shipping some 75 per cent of its low-enriched uranium out of the country for it to be converted into fuel plates for a Tehran reactor that makes isotopes for cancer treatments.

Asked whether Iran's rejection would lead to new sanctions, a source familiar with the talks said there had been a general discussion on sanctions but no specifics were broached.

Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog chief urged Iran to accept an offer to process its enriched uranium abroad by the end of 2009, and advised Western powers not to impose further sanctions on Tehran.

Mohammad Al Baradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said a plan brokered by the IAEA in which Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for conversion into fuel for a Tehran medical reactor was a rare chance to defuse mistrust over its nuclear programme.

"I would hope definitely that we'll get an agreement before the end of the year," he told a news conference in Berlin. "I believe frankly the ball is very much in the Iranian court. I hope they will not miss this unique but fleeting opportunity."