VIENNA — Iran said Tuesday that it was not prepared to ship most of its enriched stockpile out of the country, effectively rejecting a plan designed to delay its ability to build a nuclear weapon.
Diplomats said six world powers were preparing to criticize Iran’s nuclear defiance at a meeting later this week.
While saying it was ready to exchange its low-enriched uranium with a higher enriched material, an Iranian official said Tehran would do so only on home soil to guarantee the West follows through with promises to give the fuel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran had sent its response to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, saying it wants a simultaneous exchange on Iranian soil.
“Iran’s answer is given. I think the other side has received it,” Mehmanparast said. “The creation of a 100 percent guarantee for delivery of the fuel is important for Iran.”
Iranian officials have accused the West of breaking past promises to supply it technology. They say they do not trust that the West.
The United States and its European allies accuse Iran of embarking on a nuclear weapons program. Iran denies the claim, saying its program aims only to generate electricity.
Low-enriched uranium is used to fuel a nuclear energy reactor, but highly enriched uranium can be turned into a warhead. The plan, brokered by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei aims to ensure that Iran, at least temporarily, does not have enough low enriched fuel that it could process further to build a bomb.