Negotiators await Tehran approval of uranium transfer deal

The agreement - announced in Vienna after nearly three days of talks involving the United States, Russia, and France - must still be affirmed by the leadership in Tehran. Mohamed ElBaradei, International Atomic Energy Agency chief, who oversaw the negotiations, said he wanted a final answer by tomorrow on a draft agreement he had circulated among the negotiators.

“I cross my fingers that by Friday we have an OK by all the parties concerned,’’ ElBaradei told reporters. “I very much hope that people see the big picture - that this agreement could pave the way for a complete normalization of relations between Iran and the international community.’’

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s chief delegate, said the draft was “on the right track,’’ but “We have to thoroughly study this text and also [need] further elaboration in capitals.’’

US officials had no immediate comment. The US delegation was headed by Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman and included top State Department and White House officials.

The proposed deal was first conceived by the Obama administration after Tehran approached the IAEA over the summer with an urgent request - a research reactor that makes medical isotopes to detect and treat diseases was running out of fuel. The administration proposed that 80 percent of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, or about 2,600 pounds, be sent to Russia for conversion into reactor fuel. France would then fashion the material into the type of metal plates, composed of a uranium-aluminum alloy, used by this reactor.

Iran had tentatively agreed to the arrangement at a meeting in Geneva on Oct. 1, and this week’s meetings were intended to reach a final agreement on technical issues, such as timing and payment for the transaction.

Up until yesterday, however, the talks teetered between stalemate and collapse. Iran, perhaps attempting to sow division among the parties, refused to meet with France, saying it had reneged on a previous nuclear agreement. Much of Tuesday’s negotiation, in fact, consisted of bilateral sessions, including a direct meeting between the US and Iranian teams.

France is only one of two countries in the world with the technical expertise to fabricate the metal plates for the reactor, but under an apparent facesaving compromise, Iran will contract with Russia, and then Russia will subcontract the work to France.

Obama administration officials hope that this arrangement will buy time for a negotiated solution to the broader issue of Iran’s nuclear program. They also view it as test of whether Iran can stick to a deal.

A key question is how quickly the material will leave Iran. If all of the uranium leaves in one shipment by the end of the year, most specialists say, it would take Iran at least a year to replace it. But if it left in batches, then Iran could replace the material as it was shipped out.