国际英语新闻：Iran receives new nuclear fuel proposal from U.S., Russia, France

TEHRAN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran said Monday that the country has received a new proposal from the United States, Russia and France on a possible nuclear fuel deal, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported.

"After Iran's decision to domestically produce 20 percent enriched uranium, we received a new proposal from the United States, Russia and France," head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying.

"We are currently studying the proposal along with other proposals from different countries," Salehi said, adding that Iran 's production of the 20 percent enriched uranium would come to an end only if "terms and conditions for a swap deal" are met.

Under a draft deal brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in October, most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium should be shipped to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with the purity of 20 percent.

Iran has not accepted the draft proposal and called for more talks over a possible deal.

On Feb. 7, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the AEOI to start work on enriching uranium to a purity of 20 percent. But he also said that Iran is still ready for exchange of nuclear fuel with world powers.

Salehi said on Tuesday that Iran began to produce 20 percent enriched uranium at the Natanz facility. On Thursday, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had produced the first batch of 20 percent enriched uranium.

Iran has been at the center of an international dispute over its nuclear plan. The United States and its Western allies have been accusing Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of a civilian program. Iran has denied the accusation and stressed its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.