'No reason for Iran to enrich uranium'

Budapest: The head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Tuesday there was no reason for Iran to pursue uranium enrichment technology because there was a plentiful supply of the nuclear fuel abroad.

Dale Klein, chairman of the NRC, said on the sidelines of a speech in Hungary there is a global surplus of commercial nuclear fuel production capabilities and Iran could buy fuel for any reactors on the open market.

"So there is really no technical reason that Iran should have their own enrichment capabilities," Klein said.

Iran, which says it wants to refine uranium for electricity, has insisted on pursuing nuclear self-sufficiency, saying it could not depend on foreign sources of supply given longtime US-engineered trade restrictions imposed on it.

But the US and European allies fear Iran could put its uranium enrichment capabilities to military use, yielding high-enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

"I think that's what the concern is for certainly Western Europe and the US - what is Iran's real intention? Because if it was only for commercial fuel they could buy that on the open market," Klein said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday rejected Tehran's argument that an IAEA probe into the possible military purposes of its atomic programme threatened Iran's national security.

The agency said it could keep as confidential any information Tehran provides to the inquiry.