Iran has recommended that France build a consortium to produce enriched
uranium on Iranian soil in a bid to break the nuclear deadlock with the West, a
French radio reported on Tuesday.
"To be able to reach a solution, we have just had an idea. We propose that
France create a consortium for the production in Iranof enriched uranium,"
Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy director of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, told France
Info radio.
"That way France, through its Eurodif and Areva companies, could control in a
tangible way our enrichment activities," he said.
But Saeedi gave no further details of the proposal.
The French government has made no comments on Iran's proposal so far.
The West has been urging Iran to accept a package of incentives in return for
halting its enrichment activities.
Iran, however, has reiterated that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful
energy needs. It failed to meet the UN Security Council's deadline for
suspending its uranium enrichment activities by Aug. 31.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a seminar last Wednesday that Iran
would "not back down" on its nuclear rights.
"The Iranian nation will not back down on its rights," he said.
