Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said that a deal on the exchange of reactor fuel could happen "in the not very distant future".
Iran sees good prospects for clinching a deal with world powers on exchanging some of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) for higher-grade fuel it can use in a reactor producing medical isotopes, Mottaki said on Friday.
"I personally believe we have created conducive ground for such an exchange in the not very distant future," Mottaki told the annual Munich Security Conference.
He added it should be up to Tehran to set the amounts to be exchanged, based on its needs.
Mottaki said he would discuss the exchange on Saturday with the new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, on the fringes of the Munich conference.
"We think all parties have shown their political will to fulfill this exchange," he said, without naming specific countries.
Iran would hand over uranium enriched to 3.5 percent, and receive 20 percent enriched uranium in return, to use in the Tehran reactor producing the medical isotopes, he said.
"Here there must be a guarantee for both sides that this 3.5 percent will be given for sure and 20 percent will be given back for sure," he noted.
Mottaki said the three "components" for a deal were timing, place and quantity.
Mottaki said Iran acknowledged it could take a number of months for its negotiating partners to produce the 20 percent fuel required for the Tehran reactor. “We can understand this period for production,” he said.
Once it was ready, it would be exchanged “simultaneously” with the Iranian LEU.
"Our request is the quantity should be announced by the party who is going to use this enriched uranium, and the quantity will be announced based on our need, this is the most important point," he said.