Originally posted by Chaos Lord
First they announce a new reactor today, Now they want this?!

I think we are being led into WWIII. China and Russia are using Iran as the pre text. I think the two are ready to get it on with us.

[edit on 9/25/2009 by Chaos Lord]

Can you elaborate on what you just said? You said that in Geneva you will agree to buy enriched nuclear fuel? Is that correct? From the United States?
We have a reactor in Tehran that produces nuclear medicine based on radioactive technologies. It requires enriched material to the grade of 19.75 percent. We are prepared to purchase this material. We are prepared for our nuclear experts to sit down and discuss areas of nuclear cooperation towards the purchase of material that we need with experts from the other side. To engage in nuclear cooperation as well as to discuss our need to purchase these materials. I think it is a very solid proposal which gives a good opportunity for a start.

But you are enriching uranium in Iran as we speak. Is that correct? The IAEA says you have enough enriched uranium—I believe it is 4.5 percent—to build a crude device. By what you just said, are you suggesting that you are willing to suspend enriching uranium?
I want to correct you: our level of enrichment is currently at 3.5 percent—within a range of 3 to 5 percent. The materials go to nuclear-power plants. They are useless for a bomb. A bomb needs enriched uranium to the grade of 99.7 percent. We believe that nuclear bombs are a wrong thing to have. Do you know how many atomic bombs the United States has?

I do not. Would you be willing to commit to never building nuclear weapons?
We believe that the premise that countries should or should not have nuclear weapons is wrong to begin with. To that end, we have proposed to engage in disarmament discussions. According to reports that we have received, there are about 10,000 nuclear warheads here in the United States. Don't you think that it is hilarious to say that it is potentially dangerous for the whole world if Iran were to possess one nuclear warhead but the fact that the United States possesses thousands of them poses no threat whatsoever? Isn't it hilarious to imagine that you can basically withstand the force of 10,000 nuclear warheads with only one nuclear warhead? The atomic bomb belongs to the previous generation. The time has passed for the ability to use these weapons any longer. Honestly, if they were of any use, the Soviet Union would not have collapsed—it would have used them somehow. They would have helped NATO win the war in Afghanistan [using nuclear weapons]. They would have helped the Zionist regime win in Gaza and in Lebanon. The nuclear bomb is the most antihumanitarian device ever produced in the history of mankind. With respect to the nuclear issue, we have given two concrete proposals for the P5 +1 [the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany] for negotiation—the first is disarmament and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Secondly, we need to pave the way for a collective access to peaceful nuclear technologies through cooperation by all parties. We also believe environmentally, too, that we need to have access to clean energy, secure energy that can be guaranteed. Our position is really clear. We work within the framework of the agency, and we have carried out our obligations so far.

I don't understand how your proposal for purchasing enriched uranium fuel fits in with the overall picture of your nuclear program.
Again, these nuclear materials we are seeking to purchase are for medicinal purposes. The 20 percent material is to produce the drugs we need to cure things. It is a humanitarian issue. They are working on these drugs in Tehran right now. Our reactors are really busy trying to produce these drugs. They have already produced about 20 kinds of different nuclear medicines, but we need to foresee our needs for the next 20 years, and we do need further enriched material. We thought this would be a good start to begin the negotiations.

If you were able to purchase this, what would you give in return?
We would pay money for the material. It is a good start for cooperation and to engage in cooperation. I also said that we would agree to have our nuclear experts sit down and discuss things with nuclear experts from the other side. This would help with confidence and to remove the concerns that are out there on both sides.

Why do you need to have enriched uranium if you don't have a single operating reactor that requires enriched uranium at this moment?
We have a nuclear reactor in Tehran that has been operational for the past 20 or 30 years, I would say—producing medicine. It is still operating. It creates about 20 different kinds of medicine. We have in the past bought the 20 percent enriched uranium from other countries—not from the United States. Now we could buy it from the United States. I think it is a good place to start for cooperating and talking. It is an issue that is humanitarian—it is about medicine.