US, France Deny Making Promised Isotope Offer to Iran

Officials Demand Iran Accept Draft Agreement They Accepted Weeks Ago

The official narrative about the Iranian nuclear program took a bizarre turn today when the United States, France and Russia each went out of their way to respond to reports that Iran was studying the proposal submitted last week for access to medical isotopes by denying that any such offer had ever been made.

Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Iranian Atomic chief Ali Akhar Salehi as saying the proposals were under consideration. The US State Department announced the new offer last week, and said it was being submitted through the IAEA.

But now officials say the offer which State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley discussed not only hasn’t been submitted, but doesn’t even exist. The White House declared that no proposals have been made.

Moreover, French and US officials are demanding that Iran accept the long-stand draft enrichment agreement as an alternative. Iran accepted this agreement two weeks ago, only to see French and German officials condemn its acceptance as unacceptable.

Iran, which had been enriching uranium to 3.5 percent for energy generation, last week began to enrich uranium to 20 percent, for use in its medical isotope reactor in Tehran. They have offered to go back to 3.5 percent, however, if they are able to find an alternative source of fuel for the reactor.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.