Iran's foreign minister says officials will respond "within the next
few days" to a U.N. draft proposal that would allow another country to
enrich uranium for an Iranian research reactor.
Iran's state-owned Press TV quotes Manouchehr Mottaki
Monday as saying that his country may agree to ship some of its own
uranium abroad for enriching, or it may choose to buy enriched uranium.
In either case, he said Iran will also continue to enrich its own uranium as well.
The news agency says Mottaki also said that "different countries" had
expressed their "readiness" to construct new nuclear power facilities
in Iran. However, he did not specify the countries.
The U.S.-backed proposal to send Iran's uranium abroad is aimed at
preventing Iran from enriching uranium to the point that it can be used
for nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, a four member team of United Nations experts is expected to
conduct a second inspection Monday of Iran's newly revealed uranium
enrichment facility near the city of Qom.
The International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors got their first look
at the site Sunday. They are trying to determine if Tehran is using the
facility for peaceful purposes, as Iranian authorities insist.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to arrive in
Iran Monday after visiting Pakistan. The Turkish leader will hold talks
with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other high-level officials on
strengthening commercial ties between the countries in areas that
include energy.
The Guardian newspaper says Erdogan dismissed western
nations' claims that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons saying "Iran does
not accept it is building a weapon." He said Tehran only wants nuclear
power for energy.