U.S.: Iran nuke offer doesn't comply

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- An Iranian proposal to swap low-enriched uranium for nuclear research reactor fuel isn't in accordance with an international agreement, a U.S. official says.

Citing an unnamed senior State Department official, CNN reported Sunday that the proposal, made this weekend in Bahrain by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, doesn't line up with a draft agreement from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Mottaki said Saturday that Iran was willing to exchange 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent-enriched uranium for 20 percent-enriched fuel for use in a medical research reactor. The IAEA, backed by the so-called "P5plus1" -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- has urged that Iran send its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing to allay fears it is attempting to develop nuclear weapons, which use highly enriched uranium.

"The terms of that agreement call for Iran to send 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Russia in one batch, where it would be further enriched and then sent to France for fabrication into fuel assemblies," the official said. "We remain committed to these terms. Unfortunately, Iran has been unwilling to engage in further talks on its nuclear program."