Tehran urges Western powers to accept nuke fuel swap deal

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TEHRAN, June 12 (AFP): Iran called on Western powers Saturday to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil as a 'dignified' way out of an intensified atomic standoff, the state news agency IRNA reported.
"The best dignified way out of Iran's nuclear issue for Western countries is to accept the fuel swap," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, told IRNA.
He branded the standoff with world powers over Iran's atomic programme as their "self-created quagmire."
International pressure increased on Iran as the UN Security Council on Wednesday slapped a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear drive, this time tightening the noose on military and financial transactions.
Iran has refused to heed UN demands of suspending its uranium enrichment programme, insisting it is aimed at peaceful nuclear fuel production, and it denies charges of seeking atomic weapons as suspected by the West.
In May, Iran signed a deal with temporary UN Security Council members Turkey and Brazil to ship about half of its low enriched uranium (LEU) stockpile to Turkey for an exchange with higher enriched reactor fuel.
Western powers reacted coolly to the deal, which builds on an October proposal by the UN nuclear watchdog to ship Iran's LEU to Russia and France to be converted to reactor fuel.
Meanwhile, Iran Saturday marks one year since the disputed presidential election returned hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, with his rivals uncompromising in their continued opposition to his rule.
However opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have called off plans to stage fresh anti-government demonstrations over safety concerns as the authorities vowed to crack down on any new protests.