MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Iran has not dismissed the UN nuclear watchdog's uranium enrichment proposal and is expected to respond to it soon, the Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday.
"We are waiting for official confirmation by the Iranians of the scheme that was approved with their participation," Sergei Lavrov said.
Talks in Vienna between Iran, the UN and three world powers on its nuclear program ended on Wednesday with a deal involving Iran shipping out its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France. The uranium would be enriched in Russia and then sent to France to prepare it for use in an Iranian reactor.
The Vienna talks, aimed at easing international suspicions of a covert Iranian atomic weapons program, involved Iran, the UN, the U.S., Russia and France.
Iran announced in September that it was building a new nuclear fuel enrichment plant near the city of Qom, some 100 kilometers south of Tehran, which sparked international calls for harsher sanctions against the country.
The announcement has fueled fresh concerns that Iran could conduct covert uranium enrichment activities, and the IAEA demanded that Tehran provide detailed information and access to the new nuclear facility as soon as possible.
Iran is under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
The Islamic Republic has consistently denied it is seeking to make nuclear weapons, but has insisted on its right to a peaceful program aimed at generating electricity.
