President Barack Obama said in Singapore Sunday that time is running out for Iran to sign on to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for further processing.
Standing beside Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
after the two leaders met Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Obama said, "We are now running out of time."
Medvedev said he still hoped to convince Iran to send its enriched uranium to Russia where it could be further processed to fuel an aging medical reactor in Tehran.
If that plan fails, however, Medvedev said, "Other options remain on the table." He has said further sanctions against Iran were possible if it did not open its nuclear program to inspections to prove it was not trying to build a bomb.
A UN-brokered proposal would have Teheran send 1,100 kg. – around 70% of its stockpile – of low-enriched uranium to Russia in one batch by the end of the year for further enrichment. Upon completion of enrichment, France would convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor in Teheran that produces medical isotopes
. Fuel rods cannot be further enriched into weapons-grade material without several month of reprocessing.
Iran has not given a final response to the UN proposal, and has come up instead with its own request to buy nuclear fuel from abroad. Iranian officials and lawmakers have hardened their stance toward the UN plan in recent comments, adding to the pressure on the government to altogether reject the draft.
In addition, Teheran has indicated it may agree to send only "part" of its stockpile in several shipments abroad and, should the talks with world powers fail to help Iran obtain the fuel from abroad, has threatened to enrich uranium to the higher level needed to power the research reactor domestically.