Iran nuclear deal 'close', Mottaki says

Iran's foreign minister has said it is closing in on a deal with world powers over its nuclear programme.

In Germany, Manouchehr Mottaki said a deal to send enriched uranium overseas in exchange for nuclear fuel could be reached in a "not too distant future".

China, opposed to imposing new sanctions against Tehran, said talks with the international community had reached a "crucial stage".

There was no reaction to Mr Mottaki's comments from Western delegates.

The US and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful in purpose.

The Iranian comments came after Mr Mottaki decided to join the Munich conference - a major international gathering of security officials - at the last minute.

He told a late-night audience that "conducive ground" on a nuclear fuel deal had been reached.

"Under the present conditions that we have reached, I think that we are approaching a final agreement that can be accepted by all parties," he said.

"[The] Islamic republic of Iran has shown it is serious about doing this, and we have shown it at the highest level," he said.

Diplomatic manoeuvring

But Mr Mottaki did not mention the key issue of timing and insisted that the quantity of fuel involved should be up to Iran.

In January, diplomats said Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it did not accept the terms of a deal agreed in October by Iran, the IAEA and the so-called P5+1 - the US, Russia, China, UK and France plus Germany.

In response, the US, Britain and France have been pressing for more sanctions and earlier this week circulated a discussion paper on further possible measures against the country.

The move came despite recent comments by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicating that the country would have "no problem" sending much of its low-enriched uranium abroad so it could be processed into fuel - an arrangement envisaged by the October agreement.

The BBC's Nick Childs, in Munich, said that Americans and others reacted warily to Mr Ahmedinejad's comments, which suggested that he now saw no problem over the accord.

Some saw this as a tactic to derail the push for sanctions, our correspondent says, but it is also clear, he adds, that there has been some intense diplomatic manoeuvring over the stand-off.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the Munich conference that the P5+1 should remain patient and keep pursuing a diplomatic solution to the issue.

"The parties concerned should, with the overall and long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said.

"The purpose is to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution through dialogue and negotiations."

Iran president Ahmadinejad accepts nuclear deal terms

Iran says it only wants nuclear power for peaceful purposes

Iran's president has said it is ready to send its enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment under a deal to ease concerns about its nuclear programme.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state TV that Iran would have "no problem" if most of its stock was held for several months before being returned as fuel rods.

Correspondents say that such a decision would be a major shift in Tehran's position.

The US said that if this was a new offer, it was "prepared to listen".

Last month, diplomats said Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it did not accept the terms of the deal and had instead demanded a simultaneous exchange on its territory.

The US and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

'Definitive answer'

The deal agreed in October between Iran, the IAEA and the so-called P5+1 - the US, Russia, China, UK, France plus Germany - envisaged Iran sending about 70% of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel for a research reactor.

But for months, Iranian officials publically criticised the terms and said they were unwilling to export the uranium without simultaneously receiving fuel in return. The proposal proved unacceptable to the West.

But in a television interview on Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad dismissed the concerns of his "colleagues" that the West would not return the uranium, saying Iran would respond by producing more.

"We have no problem sending our enriched uranium abroad," he said.

"We say: We will give you our 3.5% enriched uranium and will get the fuel. It may take four to five months until we get the fuel.

"If we send our enriched uranium abroad and then they do not give us the 20% enriched fuel for our reactor, we are capable of producing it inside Iran."

In an initial reaction to Mr Ahmadinejad's comments, US state department spokesman P J Crowley said the US was "not prepared to change the deal. We are not interested in renegotiating it. If Iran wants to accept it then they should inform the IAEA".

But a later response from the administration stressed that "if Iran has something new to say, we are prepared to listen".

BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne, reporting from London, says that even now there will be scepticism over whether this Iranian change of heart really means anything.

The US is pressing hard for new sanctions against Iran because of the nuclear programme, so this could well just be a case of the Iranian government playing for time, trying to weaken forces lined up against it, he says.

Hikers

In his interview, Mr Ahmadinejad also said there were ongoing negotiations about a possible prisoner swap for several Iranians jailed in the US for the three American hikers currently being held in Iran.

"There are some talks under way to have an exchange, if it is possible," he said. "We are hopeful that all prisoners will be released."

Who are the US hikers?

Mr Ahmadinejad did not mention any specifics, but in December Tehran released a list of 11 Iranians it says are being held in US prisons, including a nuclear scientist who disappeared in Saudi Arabia and a former defence ministry official who vanished in Turkey. The US has denied any knowledge of their whereabouts.

"I had said I would help in releasing them, but the attitude of some of the US officials damages the job," he said. "There are a large number of Iranians in prison in the US. They have abducted some of our citizens in other countries."

However, US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told Agence France-Presse news agency: "We have not entered into any discussion with Iran about an exchange."

The three Americans - Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal - were hiking in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region in July when they accidentally crossed the border, their families have said. Iranian prosecutors say they have been accused of spying.

Earlier, US Vice-President Joe Biden warned that Iran's leaders were "sowing the seeds of their own destruction" by suppressing the opposition protests that followed the disputed re-election of Mr Ahmadinejad in June.

"The people of Iran are thinking about, the very people marching, they're thinking about regime change," he told MSNBC.