(Politico) Exclusive: Iran offers nuke fuel deal

[sabra]

Source: Politico

There are signs that negotiations with Iran over a nuclear fuel swap have resumed despite the expiration of the end-of-year deadline for a deal set by President Barack Obama.

While the Obama administration has stepped up talk of expanding sanctions on the regime’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iranian news reports and U.S. official sources say that Iran has recently returned a formal counter offer to swap low enriched uranium, or LEU, in exchange for nuclear fuel cells produced in the West.

The proposal comes as Iranian news reports say that the Iranian foreign ministry has announced that it is giving the international community two months to consider its fuel swap proposal before undertaking the higher enrichment for its nuclear medical program itself.

A U.S. nonproliferation hand confirmed Sunday that Iran had offered a formal response in late December or early January. While the Iranian fuel-swap response was said to have been conveyed by the highest levels of the Iranian government, U.S. officials contacted Sunday gave no public indication that they have any interest in the counter-offer.

“The Iranians have been saying different things for weeks, but what matters is whether they will accept the IAEA's proposed TRR deal, which they agreed to in principle on October 1 but then walked away from,” an administration official said. “They know what they need to do to satisfy the international communities concerns and to date they have not done so.”



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31334.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. What a surprise, after: "Six to meet this week on Iran sanctions: Clinton"

The United States, Russia, China, Britain France and Germany will meet late this week to discuss sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.

Speaking to reporters on a flight to Hawaii, she said the administration was contemplating sanctions that would target the Tehran leadership's political and commercial base, but added no decision had been made.

"The P5-plus-1 will reconvene in New York at the end of this week, and they will be exploring the kind and degree of sanctions that we should be pursuing," Clinton told reporters on her way to Hawaii.

The P5-plus-one are the five permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, the group that has been reaching out to Iran in a bid to force the regime to halt its uranium enrichment.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jj9LmgCOxiOfzpnZwzn8Q2YzxeHA

[madrchsod]

2. even the Iranian`s are picking up the story from politico..... oops..

from "politcon" :rofl:

http://www.iranian.com/main/news/2010/01/11/iran-offers-nuke-fuel-deal

once again politico scoops the world!