TEHRAN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Monday that Iran will consider the enrichment of high-grade uranium inside the country if the talks with powers fail, the official IRNA news agency reported.

　

Related

U.S. waiting for Iran's clarification on nuclear fuel  France demands Iran's formal response over nuclear issue U.S. Senate panel approves bill against Iran  Iran delivers response on nuclear fuel deal to IAEA Iran ready to cooperate on nuclear fuel: president  Iranian president reiterates nuclear rights

　"Our first request is to purchase nuclear fuel for Tehran reactor but if we do not reach a conclusion on the issue, fuel production with the 20 percent enriched uranium inside Iran will be considered," Mottaki was quoted as saying.

    Mottaki made the remarks in Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur where he is attending the 12th ministerial meeting of the D8 group, comprising eight developing Islamic countries of Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria, according to IRNA.

    Reiterating that Iran will not cease the enrichment of uranium (inside the country), he said that "the purchase of 20 percent enriched uranium for the Tehran reactor has nothing to do with the issue of enrichment," and that the process of uranium enrichment is being continued.

    He added that Iran's uranium enrichment for other reactors, other than that of Tehran, has not been ceased, the report said.

    The draft agreement, presented earlier by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), suggests to ship 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.

    Iran has sent an oral indication to IAEA asking for amendment of the draft agreement. The details of the amendment have not been published yet.