BEIRUT — Iran said Friday that it would respond next week to a proposal to ship the bulk of its enriched uranium abroad to be into turned into fuel for a medical-research reactor. The delay plunged into doubt a deal aimed at easing the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.
Earlier in the day, the United States, Russia and France formally signed off on the plan, devised by representatives of the world powers, Iranian negotiators and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei during talks in Vienna this week.
But Iran, which faced the same Friday deadline for a response, told the agency that it needed more time.
Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Sol tanieh, told state television his government “is reviewing the text of the proposals which were drawn up by Mr. ElBaradei. . . . We are examining their various legal and technical dimensions before presenting a report.”
In Washington, D.C., a spokesman for the U.S. State Department expressed hope that Iran would still back the proposal.
The U.S. “would have preferred to have a response today,” said spokesman Ian Kelly. “We approach this with a sense of urgency.”
Under the proposal, lran would send as much as 80 percent of its enriched uranium to Russia and France to be further refined and fitted for a reactor in its capital city, Tehran. The reactor is used for cancer diagnosis and treatment, all under the authority of the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Iran signaled a willingness to go along with the arrangement during talks in Vienna this week and in Geneva last month but has given pessimistic signals about the deal since.
