国际英语新闻：Iran not to ship its uranium stockpile abroad in one go

TEHRAN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran said Tuesday it will not ship all of its existing enriched uranium abroad to be processed in one go, the English language satellite Press TV reported.

    "Iran as a uranium buyer knows best how much uranium, enriched to a level of 19.75 percent, it needs," the report quoted a diplomat close to the Iranian nuclear negotiating team in Vienna.

Sending the entire enriched uranium stockpile abroad altogether is against Iran's national interests, the source told Press TV on the condition of anonymity.

    According to the report, the head of the Foreign Policy and National Security Commission of Iran's Parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi also said Tuesday that "Iran can send the scheduled amount (of its low-grade uranium) in separate shipments so that its fuel supply (provided by foreigners) is guaranteed."

    "Iran can send only a part of its stockpile, and then as it receives its 20 percent enriched fuel it will send the next portion... meaning it should not ship off all of its supply in one go," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.

    The draft agreement, presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calls for shipping most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent.

    The higher-level enriched uranium would be transported back to Iran to be used in a research reactor in Tehran for the manufacture of medical radioisotopes.

    According to the media reports, Iran will announce its official response to the IAEA by Friday.