Iran Offers to Sell Potential Nuclear Fuel

Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
February 16, 2003

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has declared its plans to sell nuclear reactor fuel internationally, establishing the Islamic republic as a country in possession of technology the United States wants to keep from spreading.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, announced the decision saying that his country has made an "important achievement" in possessing the technology to enrich uranium, and insisted the project would be for peaceful use.

Once Iran produces nuclear fuel, it will market it under the strict supervision of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

"This is an industry which can both be used by our plants and supplied to the international markets," Kharrazi was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA. "No one can deprive us of this natural, legal and legitimate right. This industry is strictly for peaceful use."

He added that Iran has suspended uranium enrichment, "but this does not mean that we will give up this industry, which is our national pride."

The United States seeks to restrict countries from acquiring uranium enrichment technology, and Iran's sale of fuel internationally would prove it already possesses the capability.

Washington suspects Iran of conducting a secret program to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists its program is geared only toward energy production.

To dispel suspicions Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, Iran signed an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty late last year allowing inspections of its nuclear sites. It also suspended its uranium enrichment program — insisting it was a voluntary, temporary good-will gesture.