Ahmadinejad: Iran Will Halt Uranium Enrichment if it Receives Nuclear Reactor Fuel from Europe

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran is willing to suspend its uranium enrichment if it receives nuclear fuel from the West.

Iran offered the compromise on the eve of nuclear talks in Moscow. If European countries could guarantee delivery of nuclear fuel for its reactors, then Iran would suspend the enrichment programme, he said, according to AFP.

"Iran has always said that if the European countries give Iran 20 per cent [enriched uranium] fuel, Iran will not carry out enrichment to that level," Ahmadinejad said.

"If they give us the guarantee there will be no problem in stopping enrichment."

His s website said he had made the comments in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine but the claims could not be found in the online version of the interview published on 16 June.

Contradictory reports on Iran's nuclear stance have surfaced with one unnamed Iranian official on the state news agency saying the country had no intention of abandoning its right to enrich uranium.

"If this demand isn't recognised, the negotiations are certainly headed for failure," IRNA reported.

The US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany hope to convince Iran to curb its uranium enrichment programme amid fears that high-grade uranium will be produced for nuclear weapons.

Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is for peaceful means only.

The two-day meeting comes after talks were reopened in April following a 15-month hiatus. Two rounds of talks have been held in Istanbul and Baghdad.