Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham on Tuesday rejected a Western media report that Tehran had agreed to send a part of the country's enriched uranium stockpile to Russia.
Afkham stressed in a statement that Tehran does not confirm "the politically-motivated speculations by certain foreign media outlets." Such reports aim at affecting the climate of Iran-P5+1 talks ahead of a new round of negotiations on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, slated for November 11 in Oman, she added.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman noted that Iran's negotiators attend the ongoing nuclear negotiations to safeguard "the national interests and rights of the Iranian people" regardless of such Western media hype.
The remarks follow The New York Times report that "Iran has tentatively agreed to ship much of its huge stockpile of uranium to Russia if it reaches a broader nuclear deal with the West," citing "officials and diplomats involved in the negotiations." "Under the proposed agreement, the Russians would convert the uranium into specialized fuel rods for the Bushehr nuclear power plant," the paper said.
Meanwhile, a member in the Iranian negotiating team said that a meeting would be held on Sunday and Monday in Muscat involving Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, his American counterpart John Kerry and the former EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton.
Muscat will also host a new round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group on Tuesday, November 11.
This new round gains prior importance ahead of the deadline set for concluding a comprehensive agreement between the two parties over the Iranian nuclear program, November 24.