Iran ready for nuclear talks without conditions: report

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran is ready to return to negotiations on a nuclear fuel swap without conditions, its envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Talking of a letter that Iran handed to the IAEA about the proposed nuclear fuel swap, Iran's envoy to U.N. agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh said: "The clear message of this letter was Iran's complete readiness to hold negotiations over the fuel for the Tehran reactor without any conditions."

The issue of fuel for the Tehran reactor, which makes medical isotopes, was a central part of Iran's negotiations with global powers which stalled last October, leading to fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

A deal struck in principle with Russia, France and the United States would have seen Iran send some of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad in exchange for specially processed fuel rods needed to keep the Tehran reactor running.

The aim was to address concerns that Iran's own nuclear enrichment program might be aimed at developing weapons capability, something Tehran denies. The deal unraveled amid Iranian demands for amendments.

A revived version, negotiated with Brazil and Turkey in May, was not enough to stop new sanctions from the U.N. Security Council, the United States and the European Union, whose foreign ministers agreed the new measures on Monday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had previously said Iran would not return to talks until world powers "clarified" three things: their attitude to Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal, their stance on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and whether they came to the table as Iran's friend or its enemy.

But Soltanieh said there were no conditions.

"As soon as other countries are prepared, we are also ready to hold talks about the fuel for the Tehran reactor," IRNA quoted him as saying.

Iran's letter, which the IAEA said it had passed on to the countries involved in nuclear talks with Iran, set out the basis for negotiations for fuelling the Tehran reactor.

According to Iran's semi-official news agency Fars, it reiterated the main elements of the deal agreed with Brazil and Turkey, so would be unlikely to satisfy the countries which have backed new sanctions which threaten Iran's gasoline imports and other vital economic sectors.